Behind The Mask
by Phoenix on cloud nine
Summary: 16 year old Mike Ross is enrolled in a mentor programme at school. He's stuck with newly made-Senior Partner Harvey Specter from Pearson Hardman. However, when looking around one of their client's labs, he is bitten by a spider and soon gets odd powers. He decides to use these gifts to become a superhero.
1. I Am So High, I Can Hear Heaven

**A/N Hey guys :) I really hope you enjoy this - obviously spoilers for 'The Amazing Spiderman' but this is really just using one or two characters from that; this is about Mike being Spiderman and his relationship with Harvey (not slash, in case any of you hoped I would suddenly convert). I'm not sure when this'll get updated considering I have 'Lessons In Parenting' but hopefully you lovely lot will be as understanding as you always are :)**

* * *

**Chapter 1:  
I Am So High, I Can Hear Heaven**

* * *

"_But you're going to be gone for **ages**!" 11 year old Mike wailed at the unfairness of his parents going out for dinner without him, leaving him with his grandparents instead._

_His mother scoffed at that as she put her jacket on, not bothering to hide her smile at her son's dramatics. "Yes, Mike, positively a lifetime," she teased, kissing his forehead and trying to smooth his hair back. "We'll be back before you go to bed." Mike snorted and looked away. "Of course, what am I thinking?" She said, smirking. "You don't need to be put to bed, do you? A big 11 year old like you?"_

_Mike looked up at her, his eyes having a shine of defiance in them whereas there was an embarrassed blush on his skin, showing her that whilst he **didn't **need tucking into bed by his parents… he still kinda liked it._

_His mom would read Curious George to him, whilst his father would make monkey noises in the background, making Mike giggle and his mother sigh and roll her eyes, whilst hiding a small grin at her husband's antics._

_Mike liked bedtime._

_Even a big 11 year old like himself._

"_Okay, bye, sweetie," his mom said, smiling and hugging him. "We'll see you later, alright?" Mike nodded and turned to his dad expectantly._

"_Bye, kiddo," he said, giving him another hug. "You be a good boy, alright?" Mike nodded, wanting to say he was too old to need babysitting, or to be told to be a 'good boy' – he knew his parents coddled him slightly; partly because they never thought they could have children, and also because he had a hard time at school, having shown he had genius qualities back in kindergarten. As much as he got embarrassed by their babying the older he got – he secretly liked it. _

"_Bye," he said to both of them, waving before being taken further into his grandparent's house by his Gramps for some dinner of their own._

_It was that night the restaurant his parents were eating at was also serving a Mr. Fenton copious amounts of wine without stopping. _

_He crashed into another car on his way home because of the amount of alcohol in his system. That car happened to be the Ross's car. _

_11 year old, orphaned Mike Ross was taken in by his grandparents._

- 5 Years Later -

"Yo, Mike!"

16 year old Mike glanced up from his locker, hastily stacking the large law books towards the back of it and hiding them with an old biology textbook that was mandatory for their class. He was already seen as the 'freak' in their year with his stupid memory and brain, there was no need for people to see the books that would usually only be useful for someone who had already become a certified lawyer and was working in a law firm.

Which Mike vowed he would one day be. He had felt so helpless when no one took his claims seriously when he begged someone to listen to him. He had told the police his parents were careful drivers and the man must have been severely inebriated but they didn't listen to him. Instead, the man was just fined and the restaurant hadn't even been questioned regarding the man's alcohol intake.

"Mike!"

He was suddenly shaken from his thoughts as Trevor pulled on his shoulder, an easy grin on his face. Jenny, next to him, looked slightly more concerned but Trevor shot her a face that clearly said '_trust me, he does this a lot_'.

"Sorry, I was just…" Mike floundered, unsure of what he could say. 'Sorry I was just wishing I could avenge my parents' deaths'? Trevor would laugh it off but secretly watch him for weeks in case he did something stupid and Jenny… Jenny would probably go to his grandparents and tell them directly.

"Whatever, dude," Trevor waved it off, used to Mike zoning out as he thought about various books he had read – whether that very day or back in first grade. "So, listen – I've got us a job."

"What?" Mike frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I got us paid-work," he said slowly, as if Mike was stupid.

"I know _what _you mean, dumb ass," Mike shot back. "I meant doing what?"

"Deliveries. You know, bike messenger kind of thing? I thought it would be best for you seeing as that's the only job I could see you doing with a bit of grace."

"I'm not that clumsy!" Mike argued, although now even Jenny was giggling slightly. "Okay, fine, maybe I can be a bit… uncoordinated sometimes," he relented.

The bell rang and Jenny glanced up instinctively. "I have to go to calculus," she told them, pulling a face. "Tell me more about these jobs later," she said, prodding Trevor in the side slightly before smiling at Mike and leaving.

Trevor waited until she'd gone before grinning and moving slightly closer to Mike. "Okay, dude, you will _love _me," he said. "This delivery job? Your cut of the profit is a very nice $1,500."

Mike gaped at him, his eyes wide. "What? No way – this _one _job?"

Trevor nodded, grinning. "Yup. How awesome is that?"

"What's the catch?" Mike asked wearily, knowing there would be one. There always was with Trevor.

His friend apparently couldn't really keep things secret, and after glancing around and making sure no one was in earshot, he leant forward a bit more and said in a hushed voice; "We drop off a package of pot to some senior in the gym after school and we split the – "

"_What_?" Mike voice was hushed and scandalised. "Trevor, what the hell? Since when have you been into dealing drugs? And since when have you been so into it that they're prepared to pay you $3,000?"

"C'mon, Mike, don't tell me you've never thought about drugs?"

Mike shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He _had _thought about it – the school he was at, it was very much a 'when in Rome' situation. Because it was in a poorer part of town, lots of kids had to find… _different_ jobs if they wanted some extra money. It was practically on his timetable that he had to walk past at least 5 different students doing various drugs in a single day.

"I don't know, Trevor," Mike said. "I don't think it's a good idea…"

"It'll be fine, trust me," his friend said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

"… So as you can see, Mr. and Mrs. Ross, it's obviously a very troubling matter."

Mike stared down at his knees as his principal talked to his grandparents. He didn't think he could ever face something as traumatic as his parents' deaths – but having to be there as his loving, charitable grandparents were told their only grandson had been dealing drugs on school property? (And stupidly in view of a camera no less?)

It was torture.

"Of course," Grammy nodded, and Mike could tell she was shooting him a disappointed look.

"But you're not pressing charges?" Gramps said.

"Because this is the first time we've had any trouble from Michael, we're not going to take any serious disciplinary action," the principal said. "And also, because – although he's not admitting it – I think he was very much coerced into this by the other boy – "

"Trevor," Mike heard Gramps mutter under his breath and his toes curled slightly. Gramps had never liked Mike's only friend.

"We would like to offer him an opportunity to redeem himself, however," the principal said, smiling. Mike finally looked up to meet the man's eyes, wondering what he was going to do – and why he was smiling. "Every year we offer up a mentorship programme to let certain students get a taste of what the world has to offer. We have a vast amount of different professionals to choose from, but I already took the courtesy of choosing one for you."

Mike raised an eyebrow at this but took the leaflet on the mentorship programme that was offered to him. He then took a piece of paper the principal gave him. He read the job description and couldn't help but let a wide grin appear on his face.

"The librarians are very impressed with some of your book choices," he said to Mike, before looking over at his grandparents. "Were you aware of the books your grandson reads?"

"We're old, not stupid," Gramps began, before being hit slightly in the stomach.

"James!" Grammy hissed. "I'm not old!"

"Yes, dear," Gramps said, nodding and exchanging an amused glance with Mike.

"What my husband meant to say," she started, "is that we know how smart he is. What type of mentorship have you given him? He reads everything."

Mike shyly flashed the paper at them. Edith took the papers and read through them, a small smile appearing on her face. "A lawyer? An actual lawyer?"

"A senior partner, Grammy," Mike corrected her. "At one of the city's biggest law firms. He's like, only one promotion off getting his name in the title."

Edith nodded, suitably impressed before passing the paperwork to her husband. "When does this programme start?"

"Next week," the principal said.

Edith nodded before looking back at Mike. "In that case," she said, standing up – sensing somehow that the meeting had in fact come to an end, "Michael, you're grounded for a week and you have extra chores for the next month – and once this mentorship programme starts I want you home straight after school or after… whatever it is you'll be doing with this lawyer. Is that understood?"

Mike nodded hastily – glad that his grandparents' style of discipline differed from so many other people's parents. Once they had given him the punishment they then considered the matter closed.

He couldn't stop the flutter of excitement in his stomach as they were on their way home though. He finally had the chance to see what _real _lawyers did.

He wondered what this lawyer, this… Harvey Specter would be like.

He hoped the guy wouldn't be really condescending as many other adults were.

He hoped the guy was nice.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Louis, I would love to help, but unfortunately I'm a bit busy with your girlfriend tonight," Harvey smirked at the junior partner, his arms crossed. He would usually make a wife joke (he didn't care what other people – i.e, _Donna_ – said, they were funny) but he knew Louis had recently started seeing a woman and it made him laugh at how over the top his reactions usually were.

He didn't disappoint, and bristled, his face going slightly red as he sputtered indignantly.

"Jeanine thankfully has much more taste than that."

"Well then why is she with you?" He asked, smirking.

A small cough echoed from the door and both men turned to see Jessica stood there, her hands on her hips. "Am I interrupting something?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Not at all, Louis was just leaving," Harvey flashed a smile at her, looking at Louis expectantly. Seeing Jessica also staring, the junior partner simply growled and turned on his heel to leave – no doubt plotting what he could do to get back at Harvey.

"Harvey, I heard your interviews didn't go very well," Jessica said, circling him slightly like a tigress, making him (not for the first time) feel glad she had never had to depose him.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I told you I work better alone. You wouldn't have liked any of them anyway," he told her. "They were boring. Donna, tell her," he said loudly.

"One of them actually cried when I told him that Harvey didn't like skinny ties and the kid was wearing one," she said, rolling her eyes. "You really wouldn't have wanted any of them working here."

"Or maybe," Jessica leant so she was resting her hands on Harvey's desk, and yet somehow still towering over him intimidatingly, "maybe you just didn't try hard enough to get to know any of them."

"Jessica, it's an associate, I don't need to get know them at all," he argued, trying to hold his own, however much the woman was dominating all of the tension in the room, using it to her advantage.

"Wrong. You need to learn to have some compassion – if you don't care about the people who work for you; you're never going to be successful. All of your cases will soon fall apart. Which is why," she stood up from her resting place on his desk to make use of her full height, "I have signed you up for a mentorship programme at Washington Heights High School. You'll be given one kid that shadows you and learns a bit more about how the law works."

Harvey stared at her, his mouth open slightly. He could swear he had heard Donna giggle at this news but ignored her. "Jessica," he said, trying to sound reasonable. "You can't be serious…"

"Oh I am," she assured him. "It'll be good for you. If all else fails, at least I can say I tried," she sighed slightly. "Just let this kid follow, answer any questions and after a while you can cut him loose and go back to working as some lone gunslinger."

"What?" Harvey blinked, standing up himself. "Are you saying if I do this, you won't force me to get an associate?"

"Did I say that?" She asked, smirking slightly on her way out. As soon as she was gone, Donna came in with a file.

"This is going to be fun," she said with relish, handing him the file. "Jessica gave me this yesterday – the school called to confirm which kid you're getting. He's so adorable," she cooed. "He looks like a puppy!"

"Do I want to know how you got his picture?" Harvey asked, flicking through cautiously. "What is this, like his facebook picture or something?"

Donna shrugged. "I know you like knowing what you're dealing with and they didn't supply us with a picture. So I had to do a bit of research."

Harvey snorted as he read the file. "This kid won't even show up," he said confidently. "His parents are dead, he lives with his grandparents – he's a straight A student but doesn't do any after-school activities. Oh my god…" He groaned. "They're giving me him because he just got busted for drug dealing. Great. I don't like kids full stop, and they're giving me some hoodlum who'll probably be in juvie in about 5 months."

"Leave him alone, the kid's an orphan!" Donna said, hitting his shoulder lightly.

"Why give me some junkie?" Harvey muttered darkly. "Why do I get him? Why doesn't some grocery store get him? Or an artist. Why has this kid been assigned to be with a lawyer?"

"The principal attached a special note at the back," Donna informed him. Raising his eyebrow, Harvey flicked to the back to see the note. He read it through before frowning.

"The kid's been reading law books that you can only make sense of after you leave Harvard. He's got an eidetic memory and he's scored in the top 99th percentile in any aptitude test they have him do."

"Just when you thought you'd figured out a person," Donna shook her head in mock-horror, teasing him.

"At least he'll be interesting," Harvey muttered. "When does this thing start?"

"Next week," Donna informed him. "It's one day per week – all you have to do is let the kid follow you about or put him in the corner with one of your law books and it'll be over before you know it."

Harvey sighed and cursed Jessica under his breath.

* * *

Mike slowly walked towards the library, where all of the mentors were gathered, waiting for their respective students. He swallowed nervously as he put his hand to the door, begging himself not to screw this up somehow. It sounded like the best opportunity he could ask for, and if something happened to ruin it…

He took a deep breath and told himself not to think like that. It would be fine.

He entered the library, seeing the throng of various adults talking to students. He slunk around the corners, trying to find the lawyer. He eventually came across a table that just had a man sitting at it, wearing a perfect three-piece suit with his hair lovingly lacquered and coiffed, slicked back in a perfect example of professionalism. This must be him.

"Uh, Harvey Specter?" Mike approached him, swallowing. Why was he so nervous?

The man nodded and stood up. "Mike Ross?" He double-checked. When Mike nodded, Harvey glanced down at his watch. "You're late," he said, causing Mike to check his own watch, worried he'd lost track of time for the thousandth time. He breathed out slightly when he saw the time.

"No I'm not," he replied. "I'm now…" he counted the seconds on his watch, "34 seconds early. Your watch must be wrong."

One of Harvey's eyebrows rose. "Really? And what makes you think it isn't your watch that's wrong?"

"'Cause I set it according to NASA's time," Mike shrugged. "And then I checked that with the official time in the New York Stock Exchange and counted down with it before setting it…" he blushed slightly at Harvey's look. "My uh… my Grandmother likes me to be on time…"

"I take it that means she likes you to be on time after multiple times of _not _being on time?" Harvey asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say I _wasn't _on time, I'd say I was more just… doing it in a different time to everyone else?" His statement – whilst at first was confident – soon dissolved into him trying to muddle the sentence together, questioning himself slightly.

Harvey snorted slightly. "Right. Okay, hotshot, if we're doing this thing I want to make a few things clear – got it?" Mike nodded eagerly, reminding Harvey of the puppy statement Donna had made. "One – you're on time. I might have to take you to client meetings, and – "

"I get to sit in on meetings?" Mike asked excitedly. "Can I read anything? Do you have like, due diligence or contracts or bylaws or anything?"

"Don't interrupt me," Harvey said, his eyebrow rising once again, reminding Mike of Spock. "I said 'might'. And you can't read those things unless you have attorney-client privilege. Which you don't have. Can I finish?" Mike nodded meekly. "Okay. Two – look presentable. Wear a suit."

"A suit?" Mike questioned. "I don't have a suit!"

"How did I know that was coming?" Harvey rolled his eyes. "Get one. Until then, just… don't wear that."

Mike glanced down at himself, wondering what was wrong with what he was wearing. Converse, relatively skinny jeans, a Nirvana t-shirt and his favourite hoodie. What was wrong with that?

"Kid, don't even say it."

"Say what?" Mike asked, looking confused.

"Do _not _say that you think it looks fine. Because if you're shadowing a lawyer, you need to _look _like a lawyer," Mike glanced down at himself, and Harvey saw how much the kid was now second-guessing himself. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a second before continuing. "Look – you want to be a lawyer some day?" Mike nodded. "You need to know these things. And believe it or not, at Harvard law, you have to try and look your best. Then when you're working at a law firm you have to look better than your best. Understand?"

Mike nodded before raising his hand slightly, a small, defiant glint in his eye as he grinned cheekily. "Question."

"Don't do that," Harvey grumbled, swatting at the hand. "What?"

"If you have to look better than your best, why are you wearing a vest?"

"Excuse me?" Harvey glanced down at his immaculate suit. "And what, exactly, is wrong with a three piece suit?"

Mike snorted. "What's _right _with it?"

"I can cite you dozens of different cases in which the defendant won because of how they were dressed."

"Objection, hearsay," Mike grinned. "Defence isn't offering any evidence to back this up with."

"I would think that with the ten or so years defence has been a lawyer, it would be enough to take his word merely on credibility."

"Credibility is only a small part of proof in the eyes of the law," Mike said, his adrenaline going slightly, wishing – not for the first time – that there was a debate club or law society at his school.

"And what told you that? Your years working as a lawyer, or simply watching Law and Order?" Harvey questioned, an amused look on his face.

"Objection, argumentative and speculation," Mike pointed out. "And Law and Order is an awesome show."

"I'm sorry, your honour, here I was thinking I was in a court of law," Harvey glanced around. "Apparently I have to go against a kid who uses the word 'awesome' in his defence."

"Objection - badgering the uh… the prosecution?" Mike asked. "And uh… Defence is being mean!" With that he stuck his tongue out.

"Alright, junior, how about you go back to kindergarten while I get an actual 16 year old?" Harvey suggested, although he had a smile on his face that he couldn't quite get off.

"I think you'd regret that decision," Mike told him, putting his hands in his pockets.

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm the smartest kid in this school with an encyclopaedic knowledge of how the law works… give or take a few books."

Harvey smirked at him. The kid didn't even seem to be boasting – more stating a fact.

And he believed him.

"Alright, come with me," he said, already leaving the room. Mike blinked but quickly followed, trotting slightly to keep up with Harvey's brisk strides.

"Where are we going?" He asked excitedly.

"My firm," he explained, walking outside of the school and texting someone as he spoke. "I have some work I need to do and if you have to stay with me, you might as well come along. Just don't distract me or interrupt me."

Mike rolled his eyes. "Yes, sir!" He said loudly like a soldier, saluting Harvey.

Harvey smirked but shook his head. "Smart-ass."

A large black car suddenly rolled up in front of them and Mike stepped back, intimidated by the size of it and wanting to get out of the way of whoever it was that would be exiting the car. He was surprised when Harvey grabbed his shoulder and pushed him forward instead. Mike glanced up at him, confused.

"It's a car," Harvey explained slowly. "You get in and it drives you places."

"This is yours?" Mike asked, his eyes wide. When Harvey nodded, he gasped with delight. "Sweet!" He bounded over to one of the doors, only to have Harvey open it and sit there instead.

"Other side," he told him, closing the door.

* * *

Mike gazed about with wide eyes as they entered Pearson Hardman. The sheer size and vastness of the just the lobby had him reeling.

"_This _is where you work?" Mike asked, and Harvey found he was actually holding onto the kid's shoulder so he wouldn't run away. The teen was wriggling like a puppy, wanting to explore _everything _and Harvey knew – even though she was the one who had initiated this – Jessica wouldn't take it well if he let a genius teenage delinquent wander (maybe bounce was more appropriate) the halls of the firm.

"This is where I work," Harvey confirmed. "Don't do anything stupid and stay with me, you got it?"

"Aye, aye, captain," Mike said, glancing around before seeing the security guards. "We get to walk through metal detectors?" His childlike enthusiasm caused Harvey to glance at him. "What? This is awesome! I feel like I'm in some kind of action movie. Do you ever get crazy guys with guns?"

"Okay, I know you're 16, but please act slightly more mature here. If you're some sort of genius, shouldn't you act like one?"

Mike frowned at him but stopped himself moving around so much. The result was an odd, jittering as he kept himself still. Harvey rolled his eyes as they were stood in the elevator and ignored the confused looks of various employees who were wondering why Harvey Specter was escorting a kid to the firm.

"Come on," Harvey let his hand slide off Mike's shoulder as they got to his floor and assumed the kid had learnt his lesson and wouldn't try and look at _everything _anymore. "Donna," he said, as they got towards her desk. "This is Mike. Mike this is my assistant, Donna."

"Hi," Mike mumbled, suddenly shy and blushing. Harvey rolled his eyes. Of course his shadow had to have some kind of crush on his assistant.

"Hi, Mike," she said, smiling, tossing her hair slightly. "Are you excited?" Mike nodded, his mouth going slightly dry as she stood up to reveal slim, toned legs. "Harvey I'm going to get you those files you wanted." She walked away, swinging her hips slightly, knowing full well that the kid was watching. Harvey rolled his eyes, smacking Mike on the back of the head slightly.

"Hey!"

"She's older than you and not interested. Give it up."

"What?" Mike sputtered. "I didn't… I'm not…"

"Whatever, kid. Just don't even _try _to go there."

"I wasn't going to," Mike said, honest to god _pouting _before marching into Harvey's office. "Woah…" he breathed out, anger all forgotten as he saw the view.

"Don't smudge the glass," Harvey said to him, watching as Mike pressed himself to the window to look down.

"This is _awesome_," he said with relish. "When can I get an office like this?"

"You've got a way to go yet, kid," Harvey told him, sitting at his desk. "Look, I'm busy – you can do the whole shadowing thing a different time. Just… I don't know, amuse yourself quietly and maybe in a few weeks you can come to a client meeting."

Mike sighed but nodded, excitement bubbling once more at the prospect of tagging along to see a client. He quietly wandered the office as Harvey worked, looking at everything he could find – he recognised a few law books he himself had read and grabbed one or two he hadn't managed to get his hands on. He sat on the couch, pulling his legs up underneath him as he curled up to read it.

"Feet off the couch," Harvey said behind his files. Mike tutted but kicked his shoes off, still letting his feet curl up beneath him. He glanced over at Harvey and although there was the hint of a frown, there was no reprimand in sight. He started reading and was soon immersed in the world of class-action law suits.

"Harvey, what did I tell you to do?" Mike glanced up and saw a tall woman standing in the doorway. "Why are you still here?"

"If you're talking about the mentorship programme, I went and I mentored. Calm down," Harvey said, still not looking up from his work. "Mike, this is Jessica, the managing partner of the firm. Jessica, this is the student, Mike."

"Uh," Mike coughed slightly as he wasn't even sure that Jessica had seen him yet. "Hi." Having had manners drilled into him by his grandparents, he held his hand out to shake hers. She took it looking slightly amused at the action but nevertheless gracefully shook it.

"Are you interested in the law, Mike?" She asked, glancing at the books that he had piled around him. Mike nodded, his grip tight on the books as if he thought that she would take them off him. "May I ask why?"

"You can ask," Mike said, shrugging slightly – surprising himself by being so mouthy and confident towards this woman who was intimidating him. "You won't get a real answer."

Jessica's eyebrow rose and she looked over at Harvey, who looked similarly surprised by Mike's act of defiance. "I see you were well matched," Jessica said. "Harvey, you have a meeting with Curtis Connors next week, don't forget," she nodded to him. "Maybe take the kid; he seems smart enough to follow."

With that she left, and Mike fidgeted as Harvey glared at him. "What?"

"You mouthed off to my boss."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry?"

Harvey growled slightly but shook his head before glancing at his watch. "It's been two hours, I'm officially not a mentor until next week."

"Oh," Mike said, looking almost bereft. "Okay. Um, what do I… when do we…?"

"Meet me here at 4pm next Thursday. Got it?" Harvey said.

Mike nodded eagerly. "Do I get to go with you?"

"Apparently."

"Awesome," he said with relish. He grabbed his backpack and left lingering wistful glances at the books he hadn't yet read. Harvey saw this and rolled his eyes.

"Take them," he grumbled. "But if they get in any way damaged I am taking payment from your flesh. Got it?"

Mike nodded, his grin wide as he carefully stowed them in his bag, holding it close to his chest. "Thanks, Harvey – I'll see you next week!" With that he bounded away, rummaging in his backpack for some money for the subway home.

"He was sweet," Donna said through the intercom. "He seemed to like you as well. Not many people do."

"Lots of people like me," Harvey replied, affronted.

"Sure, Harvey," she said.

Harvey spent a few more seconds staring out of his window, where he could just see a bouncy, blonde head exit the firm, grinning widely.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Mike gabbled, his bike coming to a quick halt outside the firm. "I got a detention, they end at 4 so I couldn't get here on time, and – "

"Save it," Harvey rolled his eyes. He had been resting against the bike racks waiting for ten minutes and had considered leaving but knew that Jessica would have his ass if he did that. "What did you get detention for?"

"Nothing," Mike shook his head, locking his bike up and glancing up at Harvey from underneath his hood.

"Will you take your hood off, kid? We're seeing a client, not mugging an old person."

Mike sighed but slowly pulled it down, avoiding Harvey's eyes as the man caught a glimpse of a large bruise on his cheek. He whistled. "How the hell did that happen?"

Mike shrugged. "Fell. It's fine, can we go?"

Harvey sighed but got in the car. It wasn't _his _responsibility if the kid got into fights or was bullied. All he had to do was take him to mildly interesting, lawyerly things and soon he would be gone, and this mentor thing would be over.

When they got to the building, Harvey held Mike back as he went to walk in. "You say nothing, you do nothing, you stay close and try not to get into anymore fights. Got it?" Mike nodded, looking down. "I hope the other guy looks worse than you do," he said, trying to diffuse some tension (_and why was he bothering? It wasn't like he'd see this kid more than a few hours once a week_).

Thankfully, Mike gave a small grin – although with that Harvey saw the ghost of a split lip. He didn't mention it, and they were soon in a large lab. Harvey saw the kid's eyes wandering, taking everything in and tapped his shoulder. "Remember what I said," he told him, slightly menacingly.

Mike nodded, and managed to keep his mouth shut, even though he was dying to talk about the various types of equipment he could see in the room. He had read up on Dr. Connors after Jessica had said that was who they were going to see and had found himself immersed in science, looking up all of his papers and googling things if he didn't understand them.

"Harvey," a tall, blonde man came over and shook Harvey's hand warmly. Mike had read in his research that Dr. Connors only had one arm and so managed to keep any staring to a minimum.

"Curt," Harvey nodded to him. "This is Mike Ross, he's shadowing me for a programme his school's doing. Feel free to ignore him."

Mike stuck his tongue out at Harvey and although the man in question didn't see it, Dr. Connors did and smiled at him. "Pleasure to meet you, Mike."

"You too, Dr. Connors," he smiled; shaking the man's left hand.

"Curt, we need to go over the copyright for some of your machines," Harvey told him. "How's your… serum coming along?"

"Slow," Curt replied, sighing. "But it's promising. We just need to get the algorithm right. We're trying to wipe out various disabling diseases and injuries," he said for Mike's benefit. "I'm at the stage of trying to regrow limbs. I'm sure you can imagine why," he gave a small smile.

Mike smiled back and – before he could stop himself, his mouth ran away with him. "You're trying to use cross-species genetics, right? I guess you're going to use lizard DNA for regrowing limbs, or for maybe, regrowing just cells, you could use the DNA from maybe, a zebra-fish, or… or something," he faltered, seeing both adults looking at him. Dr. Connors was looking at him, analysing him and nodding slowly. Harvey was looking like he wanted to remind Mike of his rules.

"Uh, I'll go wait outside," he said quickly, bolting before either man could stop him. He waited until he was outside the lab before cursing himself, scowling and wanting to hit his head off a wall. What had he been thinking? He'd probably sounded like an idiot.

After one or two minutes he was bored, and found himself wandering. He knew he shouldn't – he knew what Harvey had said, but he couldn't help himself. He'd never been in such a laboratory and the urge to explore was too great.

He snuck down the corridor and saw a door that had a blue glow coming from it. He hazarded a guess at the passcode, having seen someone else write one as they were walking up. Thankfully it was correct, and Mike walked in, gazing around.

There were spiders carefully contained in webs – spiders of all different kinds, and Mike thought to himself for a moment of how much Jenny would hate it in here; she didn't like spiders at all. He carefully walked through the room, every so often stopping to gaze at a certain spider. He neared the centre and found one right in the middle. It was quite large and was blue and red – it was delicately walking around the web. Mike touched the web slightly and froze as an odd, alarm bell sounded and he whipped his hand away, before noticing that the webs were almost disintegrating, the spiders falling to the floor or scuttling up the sides.

Mike jumped back in horror, trying not to stand on any but at the same time vowing he _would _if any got too close. Suddenly, several seemed to fall on him from above and he yelped, batting them away. When he was sure they'd all gone he hastily fled the room, making it back to Dr. Connors' lab just before the man himself and Harvey exited.

"Thank you for everything, Harvey," Curt said, shaking his hand again. He saw Mike waiting and smiled. "And you, young man – don't hesitate to come back again."

Mike gave a small, pained smile but shook his hand again. Just as Dr. Connors turned to Harvey to say something, Mike felt a small sting on the back of his neck. He hissed and slapped at it, but quickly stopped as both men looked over. He smiled sheepishly and waited until they were outside before he felt a sudden surge in his energy. He felt like walking home. Or running. He didn't want to wait in Harvey's car before he could get his bike back.

"You go on ahead, I'll just get the subway back home," he said to Harvey, who was getting into the car.

"Whatever," Harvey muttered, and Mike's stomach twisted, afraid that he'd upset him or something.

"Harvey, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of Dr. Connors, I just – "

"It's okay, kid," Harvey shook his head. "He got very excited that someone else understood his ideas. But next time you embarrass me in front of client, you will stay in the room to take it, got it?" Mike nodded. "Good. I'll see you next week."

Mike nodded again and gave a small smile, turning to go to the subway station.

* * *

Despite the sudden rush of energy, it vanished just as quickly and Mike found himself dropping off to sleep on the train. It was a very light sleep, but it was still enough to get rest.

However, there was suddenly what felt like a _wave _on his forehead and he leapt up – _onto the ceiling_. He looked at everyone from upside down and stared down his body, just… resting on the ceiling. A pulse of fear spiked through him and he dropped to the floor, gasping. He gazed around and - to his surprise; people were more interested in the woman who had been sitting next to him – a bottle of beer lying next to her, where he had obviously batted it away and onto her. He touched his head, thinking it would be drenched but there was a small ring of moisture where the bottle had sat, and a single drop extra that he had felt.

"What the hell, kid?" A man said – apparently the one who had placed his beer bottle on Mike's head for no particular reason. He saw the woman wearing her now sopping wet top, smelling of beer and instantly felt bad.

"I'm so sorry," he gasped, standing up and trying to bat at the top slightly. "Here, let me – " he put his hand on her shoulder and the guy whose beer it was growled at him. Mike tried to take his hand away but found it impossible, it was almost stuck to the woman's top.

"Get your hand off her!" The man said angrily.

"I'm… I'm trying," Mike mumbled, intimidated by the glares of everyone in the carriage. He tugged but it was to no avail. Suddenly, the man pushed him and – to Mike's horror – the top stayed stuck to his hand but ripped away from the woman.

She screamed and tried to cover her chest and Mike's eyes widened, looking down at the top in his hand. "I'm sorry!" He said, trying to reach out and give her the ruined top back.

He felt a small prickling at the base of his neck and found himself dodging half a second before the man swung a punch. His limbs seemed to be moving on their own and he gave the guy a punch of his own – and this was no longer one of his own, weedy punches; the guy fell back.

More of the people in the carriage advanced on him and found himself using the hand rail in the middle to his advantage, grabbing on and twirling around, kicking exactly where the man had just placed themselves on their surge forward to get him. He didn't even know _how_ he knew where they were, but the tingling was back and in response he swung around, kicking another one.

"I'm sorry!" He yelled, hoping one of them heard. He couldn't really control what he was doing, and his hands had once again stuck to the pole. He tried to yank them away when two men tried to stop him but the pole suddenly ripped from the ceiling, surprising Mike and causing him to stumble backwards, hitting someone in the head.

"Sorry!" He gasped, turning to see if the guy was alright but then instantly turning the other way as he hit someone again. "I'm…" he gazed about the carriage, five or six tough looking men on the floor and groaning in pain surrounded him. He opened his mouth and found he couldn't really speak. Thankfully, the pole dropped from his hand and as soon as the train stopped he dived out, making sure he had his backpack with him.

* * *

"I'm so sorry, you guys," Mike gasped as he got back home. Without his bike, it had taken him ages to get home – he had ended up running 7 blocks and was now drenched in sweat but was strangely not even out of breath. "I didn't mean to keep you up."

Gramps sat at the dining table whilst Grammy hovered at the doorway as he walked in. "Where have you been?" Grammy demanded, looking worried.

"I was – the mentorship thing, remember? Harvey took me to this big lab because he had to talk to a client and I got to go with him – is that meatloaf?" He walked past his grandparents and into the kitchen, grabbing the plate and taking a mouthful.

The taste seemed to explode in his mouth – never had he eaten anything so delicious. "Oh my god…" he moaned through a mouthful. "This is the best thing in the world…"

"Drunk?" He heard Grammy question Gramps, who looked equally confused.

"I don't think so," he shook his head. "Drugs?"

They both looked over at Mike who was grabbing more food – his hunger suddenly intensified tenfold. "Alright, I'll see you both tomorrow, I'm going to bed - night," he gabbled moving away with an armful of various food and soon made his way upstairs.

Edith looked over at her husband. "Should we maybe talk to Mr. Specter?"

James shook his head. "He seems to be doing Mike some good, Edie."

"Don't call me Edie," she muttered, preoccupied with looking in the fridge to see what Mike had taken. "He took the microwaveable mac and cheese…"

* * *

When Mike stumbled to the bathroom that morning, he tried to forget about what had happened the previous day. Except the lab part – he'd tell Jenny; she'd like that. Then he'd tell Trevor about the spiders but not mention anything else.

He went to put toothpaste on his toothbrush but it suddenly squirted out of the tube onto the mirror. Mike's eyes widened but – still tired – he simply wiped at it slightly with his brush and turned the tap on.

He ended up breaking the tap off, water suddenly spurting out all over him. "Shit!" He tried to put the faucet back on but it wasn't working, and so he quickly just covered it in everything he could find, grabbing the door handle to leave.

Which abruptly snapped off.

He went to the other door out of the room and very carefully grabbed it with his thumb and forefinger, slowly turning it before fleeing the room.

He made it back to his bedroom and sat on his bed, shaking. What seemed like a loud bang suddenly echoed in his room and he leapt around, holding out his toothbrush at the invader that must have crashed through his bedroom window. What he saw instead were his blinds tapping against each other lightly in the breeze.

"I'm going mad," he breathed to himself, whimpering as he heard more movement to his other side. He turned again and zeroed in on a spider crawling up his wall. One step it made with it's leg caused Mike to jump as if it was banging a drum into his ear and he suddenly found himself throwing… something at it.

He yelped and pulled away, before slowly standing and walking over. The spider was trapped on the wall, covered in what looked like it's own web, which trailed down wispily, ending in a thread on his wrist.

"Agh!" He yanked at it, thankfully disconnecting it from himself and suddenly remembered the sudden pain on his neck the previous day. He went to the mirror shakily, feeling around it and holding another mirror behind him to see a tiny bite. He felt like throwing up and immediately dove towards his computer, researching all sorts of different symptoms from spider bites, spider bite pictures and eventually a string of various numbers and characters as the keys stuck to his fingers and came off the board.

He stared at them and whimpered.

He might be in trouble.

* * *

"What's with you?"

"Hmm?" Mike glanced up from reading through a subpoena, curled up in his usual position on Harvey's couch. "What do you mean?"

"You're flinching every time the door opens. I opened the window and you acted like I'd just fired a gun. You hungover?"

"It's scary that you're taking such an interest in my wellbeing," Mike quipped. He thought he'd been handling the freaky changes in his physiology rather well considering he had to go through puberty on top of that. And since he hadn't yet come down with some kind of dramatic illness – in fact if anything he felt even better – he decided just to embrace it.

Except maybe the spider webs that he sometimes had trailed from his wrists.

He should probably learn to control that – he was drawing all sorts of uncomfortable parallels with accidentally shooting web from his wrists and other things that came with being a teenage boy.

"I'm not," Harvey scoffed, as if anyone could mistake his questions for being worried about the kid. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Mike shrugged, managing not to jump as Donna walked in, carrying a cup of coffee for Harvey. The tickling that was quickly becoming second nature to him was at the back of his neck and just as Donna tripped slightly over Mike's abandoned backpack, the teen leapt forward, catching both her and the coffee.

There was an awkward silence as both adults stared at him, their mouths open.

"Uh… here's your coffee," Mike mumbled, passing it to Harvey whilst righting Donna. "Um, sorry for uh… for…" He didn't know how to apologise for possibly touching this woman's hips (even if it was to save her).

"Good reflexes," Harvey said, frowning slightly. "I thought you didn't do any sports."

"Doesn't mean I can't have reflexes," Mike said, looking back down at the paper in front of him. He instantly looked back up and caught a pencil in his hand, looking at it bemusedly before realising Harvey had thrown it. "What was that for?"

"What was _that _for?" Harvey repeated, looking shocked. "What was _that_?"

"Reflexes," Mike mumbled, looking down. "Can we maybe drop this? Please?"

"Donna," Harvey said, still looking at Mike. "Will you leave for a minute please?" Donna raised her eyebrow but nodded, walking out. "Alright, what happened?" Harvey demanded, keeping a level gaze fixed on Mike.

"What… what do you mean?" Mike replied.

"Don't try and bullshit me. This is clearly not a normal thing – what's happening?"

"Nothing! God, Harvey, just leave it!" Mike turned up 'angsty teenager' to full. "What, because I'm smart I clearly can't be very sporty or have good reflexes?"

"Excuse me?"

Mike felt his stomach curling as Harvey stared at him and he instantly apologised. "I'm sorry, it's just… just leave it, Harvey – it's really nothing." He looked down at his lap, feeling the same way he felt whenever Grammy or Gramps told him off.

"Fine," Harvey said slowly. "It's none of my business, right?"

"Right," Mike nodded. "Oh, and I've found a major loophole in this contract," he waved it at Harvey.

"I thought you were looking at a subpoena," Harvey said, sounding confused.

"I can multitask," Mike shrugged. "Although I don't know whether you _want _there to be loophole in this, so should I just ignore it or can I highlight it?" He sounded childishly gleeful at highlighting it. "What?" He asked, at Harvey's look. "I feel really official and professional when I do. Can I? Please?"

Harvey rolled his eyes. "Go for it, kid." He held his hand out to be given the edited paperwork but didn't notice Mike glancing down at his hands as he did so.

It was the first time he had passed something to someone and it hadn't stuck slightly to his own hand first.

* * *

Mike decided to try and take control of these odd powers he now seemed to possess. What was the point of just trying to live with them? He could _do _something with them – something meaningful. So one day after school he told Jenny and Trevor that he had to go see Harvey, and instead went to an abandoned warehouse that he and Trevor sometimes frequented to throw rocks through the windows. It was weirdly satisfying, breaking something and knowing that they couldn't get in trouble for it.

He looked at his wrist as he hung upside down from the ceiling - he had tried very slowly climbing up the wall and breathed out as he reached the top, before deciding to try going horizontally instead. To his surprise, he was staying on as easily as if he were on the floor - the only issue he had with gravity was that his baggy top was flying up slightly. Whatever these spider powers were doing to his body, he realised they were mostly good. He wasn't getting head rush whilst upside down and wasn't even slightly freaked out at being up so high.

Glancing down at his wrist he held it out at the opposite wall, having already decided that whatever the hell it was that was coming out of his arms, he wanted to learn to control it. He thought for a while, wondering how exactly to release the stuff and flung his wrist out at the opposing wall. He couldn't explain what he was doing - all he knew was that he could feel himself _wanting _to release this stuff.

With that in mind he felt it come out of his wrist and stick to the wall. He pulled at it, wanting to test it's strength - and on closer inspection it looked like a spider web.

"Oh man," he breathed out, pulling at it some more before his phone ringing startled him and he fell, yelling and clutching onto the only available thing. He had his eyes squeezed closed before realising he wasn't splattered on the ground. He quickly glanced around to see that he was swinging from the web he had attached to the opposite wall.

"No way..." he tried swinging his body and smacked into the wall. "Ow..." He rubbed at his face with his free hand before realising that he needed to answer his phone. "Ah," he made a small grunt as he tried to shimmy around and swing slightly. "Hello?"

"_Mike, where are you?_"

"Gramps? What's - ow - what's wrong?"

"_Jenny came by and asked that when you got back from Harvey's to give her a call. I called his office and he seemed surprised that I was calling._"

"You talked to him?" Mike groaned.

"_Oh we had a nice chat. About you._"

Mike wanted to hit his head off the wall. On purpose, this time. "Please tell me you didn't give him any embarrassing stories from when I was younger."

"_No, I explained the situation and that you've already been caught dealing once, so -_ "

"Wait, what?" Mike squawked. "You told _Harvey _about that?!"

"_Well we both came to the conclusion that that must be what you're doing now. If I were you I'd go to his office. Or here. Unless you want to tell me where you really are?_"

"Library."

"_Nice try._"

"Gramps, I - "

"_It's up to you, Mike. Home or Harvey's. But I want you in so you can go pick your Grandmother up from her work. Got it?_"

"Yeah, I got it. But, I swear, Gramps - I'm not dealing drugs, I'm - "

"_I don't really want to know. Just make sure you're back in time to pick her up. Understand?_"

"I..." Mike sighed. "Yeah. Yeah I got it. Bye, Gramps." When he got a goodbye in return he hung up, putting the phone back in his pocket and sighing. Okay, he got busted for a very minor drug deal - but that didn't mean they shouldn't trust him whenever he was somewhere other than school, home or Harvey's office! "Stupid," he muttered, shooting a web at the ceiling and swinging across, hitting another wall, causing him to lose his grip and skin his knees as he fell.

"Dammit!"

He worked at it for what must have been going on three hours. He mixed it with practising sprinting and climbing; overall feeling like he could climb Everest. Whatever that spider had put into his system made him feel faster and fitter - his reflexes were faster than a cats and the webbing thing was definitely cool.

When it got too dark for him to continue (but he was definitely coming again because this stuff was just too awesome for him not to keep doing) he headed home - tempted to try his web/swinging thing on buildings but deciding not to until he was sure he could definitely do it properly. That and the fact he was on his bike.

He got to his door and found Gramps stood outside, talking to...

"Harvey?" Mike climbed the few steps to their house and rubbed at his hair. "What are you doing here?"

Harvey fixed him with a stare. "Because of your little disappearing act, I got out of work early to help your Grandfather scour town for you. And pick your Grandmother up from work."

Mike's eyes bugged out of his head. Harvey did all that for him? Then finally, the bigger thing hit him. "Oh shit..." he breathed. "Gramps, I'm so sorry - I was, I forgot, I got sidetracked - I'm so, _so _sorry," he said - practically begging for forgiveness.

"It's not me you should be apologising to," Gramps said - his voice particularly hard; he had never been the stern one out of Mike's grandparents and it was odd for him to have such an angry tone in his voice.

"I..." Mike's voice faltered and he glanced up to Harvey. "I'm sorry, Harvey - I didn't mean for you to leave work; I was fine, there was no need - "

"And how did I know that?" Harvey asked. "For all we knew you could have decided that dealing was a reasonable career choice."

"I wasn't dealing drugs!"

"What were you doing then?" Harvey asked, and Mike almost groaned when he saw the man's eyes go from his face to his cheek and then down to his wrists and knees. "Those are some impressive bruises, kid," Harvey told him, raising an eyebrow. "What is it, some weird fight club?"

"I'm not doing anything!" Mike argued. "I've just been practising on my bike. That's all. Y'know... jumps and... and wheelies and stuff. Sorry, I really just lost track of time."

Harvey's eyebrow was still raised but he turned to James. "Mr. Ross I'm going to go - I've left a list of days he's _actually _with me so you know for next time," he shook Gramps' hand before turning to Mike. "Don't screw this up," he said pointedly. "And next time answer your damn phone and tell people where you are."

"You sound very caring," Mike teased - having spent a few hours a week with the man he had learnt all about Harvey's 'no-caring' rule.

"And you sound as annoying as ever," Harvey said - making Gramps straighten up. At first Mike thought he was going to defend his honour, but then realised sourly that Gramps had decided he liked Harvey. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Mike nodded, biting his lip. He waited until Harvey had driven away before glancing over at James.

"Get inside," Gramps snapped at him. "You owe someone else an apology too."

Mike sighed but locked his bike up in the shed next to their house and went inside to see his grandmother. "Grammy, I'm sorry - I was out on my bike and I lost track of time," he told her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she rolled her eyes before lowering her voice. "And your grandfather is taking this all out of proportion. I got a ride in Harvey's car and finally got to meet the man. I get why you like him. He's good for you."

"What? No, I don't... I don't like - this isn't... He's just my mentor."

"A very good title to have," Grammy said, nodding.

"Aren't we getting off the subject?" Gramps asked, crossing his arms. "Mike - when I ask you to do something, you have a responsibility. I've never asked you for much - we've brought you up and given you everything you needed."

"Not everything," Mike muttered.

"What was that?"

"You couldn't bring my parents back," he snapped, suddenly angry at Gramps trying to guilt him into apologising (even though he already had). "I've tried hard too - I've tried not to show you how much I'm hurting - I've tried hard in school, I'm doing this mentorship programme - "

"Only after you dealt drugs," Gramps replied. "You really think they'd be pleased? Mike, you have this amazing gift - you're smart and your memory... You can do anything you want. Why waste it with this? You think they'd want this for you?"

Mike felt his lip tremble slightly before narrowing his eyes and storming out, slamming the door and whirling around, eyes large, as the glass shattered with it. He'd forgotten about the strength he'd built up from the spider bite. He quickly turned around and kept walking though - not wanting there to be anymore yelling until he'd calmed down.

* * *

He kicked the sidewalk with his beat-up converse as he walked, his jacket zipped up to protect him from the cold. He dodged into a convenience store when the door opened near him - eager to get into the warmth. He loitered on each aisle for about ten minutes before the owner finally spotted him.

"Hey, kid - get out if you're not buying anything!"

Mike slowly walked towards the checkout, calculating how much money he had. He probably couldn't afford anything anyway. He glared at the guy but still stuck around the front of the store, pretending to see how much a pack of gum was.

A blonde haired man set down a case of beers on the counter, his face slightly obscured by sunglasses and a raggedy beard. He just as the manager opened the till, the man pushed over a stand whilst reaching for something on it.

"Shit. Really?" The guy sighed and spotted Mike still stood there as he reached down. "Kid - get out; store policy says if you ain't buying, you ain't staying. Scram."

Mike scowled but left, sparing a glance at the man taking his case of beer and reaching around to get all of the money from the till as the manager was preoccupied. The guy's eyes met Mike's through the sunglasses and Mike simply turned and left, not saying anything. The manager was a dick - it would serve him right to get robbed.

As soon as Mike exited the manager quickly followed. "Stop that guy!" He yelled, gesturing to the blonde man. "Hey, kid - little help?"

Mike glared at him. "Not my policy," he said, turning and walking the other way.

It was only a minute or so after this that people started screaming. Mike instinctively turned to look, and saw with shock that the guy now had a gun and was pushing people out of his way. One man, however, tried to stop him and Mike's eyes widened as he got shot for his trouble. His eyes widened even more when he recognised the jacket the man was wearing.

"Gramps!" He yelled, running as fast as he could and falling to the floor beside the man, wanting to throw up at the blood already pooling onto the sidewalk. People were whispering, huddled together as they watched - someone must have called an ambulance and the police but all Mike could think was that Gramps was lying on the floor, bleeding - his eyes closed.

"Gramps, please wake up," he begged, a sob entering his voice as he gently touched the man's shoulder. "Gramps?"

Nothing.

* * *

The next few days were a blur to Mike. He was escorted home by the police and was wrapped in a hug by Grammy, before they sat her down and told her. They described the man who did it and gave them a drawing by a sketch artist. Mike closed his eyes - knowing he could easily pick the guy out of a crowd.

Stupid memory.

And what was worse was that Grammy wasn't even angry at him. At no point did she show her anger for him being to blame.

But he was. If he'd tried to do something then the guy wouldn't have ran in that direction.

If he hadn't stormed out, Gramps wouldn't have followed.

If he had just remembered that he was supposed to pick Grammy up that day...

He had to go through the pain of calling school and telling them that he wouldn't be in for a while (because he didn't want Grammy to have to tell them) and then he had to call Harvey's office and mumble down the phone to Donna that he wouldn't be turning up for a while. When he told her the reason, her voice immediately became very soft and gentle, and he could tell she was mentally hugging him.

What was weird was that both her and Harvey turned up at the funeral. Mike nearly jumped out of skin when a hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up to see it was Harvey. "Uh... hi," Mike mumbled, looking away because he didn't want his _mentor - _a man who, over the weeks had gained his respect and made him strive to be better - to see the hot tears sliding down his face.

"Hey, kid," Harvey said in a low voice, before quickly giving his condolences to Grammy and walking to be towards the back of the service - he hadn't known James Ross well enough to be anywhere near the front with his family.

When the service ended, Harvey approached him again (as Donna managed to make Edith smile somehow telling a story that neither male was privy to). "How you doing?"

Mike gave a small sniff and shrugged. "Alright." Obviously he wasn't, but then he knew that Harvey was asking as a courtesy. He knew he wouldn't be given a truthful response.

Harvey nodded before shuffling awkwardly. "I know you want to be off school for a while; are you sure you don't want to keep coming into the firm?"

Mike frowned. "I thought... I don't... am I allowed to come back so early?"

Harvey shrugged. "Not my call - I had a feeling you'd need to keep that big brain of yours occupied. I have a new case starting; remember Curt Connors?" Mike nodded. "It involved him. If you want you can come with me when I have meetings."

Mike realised this was how Harvey tried to reach out. It was surprising how much they had both gotten to know each other during the course of the mentorship programme. Harvey knew he would want to keep busy, and he knew that Harvey didn't want to be seen doing something like _caring _so instead offered for him to help out on a case.

"I'd like that," Mike nodded, wincing as he heard his croaky voice. He rubbed at his nose slightly. "Um... I'm going to take Grammy home now. She's... she's not been sleeping."

Harvey nodded, watching with a hint of sadness as Mike tried to desperately to act with more maturity than his age would allow. He was now trying so hard to be the man of the house - he felt like he had to look after his grandmother without a thought that he himself may at some point need looking after.

Not that he _cared_, Harvey scoffed to himself. If Mike didn't take care of himself what business of his was it?

His heart sunk slightly as he realised he'd now made it his business and cursed himself.

Stupid emotions.

* * *

Mike sat in his room a few nights after this - Grammy was in bed, trying some sleeping pills her doctor had prescribed her. Mike had feigned being in good health - had lied and said that he was sleeping when the truth was that he managed to scrape together about five broken hours of sleep a night. And tonight wasn't looking very promising.

He found his eyes being drawn over to the witness' impression of the guy who killed Gramps. He had pinned it to his wall, as a reminder to himself that he could've done something - maybe stopped the guy before he killed Gramps. Mike wanted to keep this to torture himself.

He deserved to suffer.

His eyes pricked and he swiped at them, wincing as he touched an old bruise on his cheek that was still tender. He scowled as he thought of the guy who gave it to him. After deciding to just avoid Trevor after the drug deal he wandered on his own at school, before realising how much the presence of Trevor had been protecting him. Some bullies had very quickly honed in on him and although he had eventually managed to get away (thankfully being able to use his new powers as second-nature now) he had still been left with a few reminders of them.

He hated bullies. He should have stood up to them.

He should've stood up to the killer.

Making a very hasty decision, he stood up, opening his window and climbing out; still not feeling confident enough to swing through the city and instead took the subway and found himself in the rougher part of the city - near where It happened. He scoured the back streets and suddenly came across a man who he was sure was the killer. His shaggy blonde hair was hiding his face and he was wearing a leather jacket that was hiding his wrist.

Mike had looked back through his memory as if rewinding a movie and remembered he'd seen a small star tattoo on the guy's wrist as he reached over to grab the money from the convenience store.

He knew if he could find the guy and... and what?

Kill him?

Would he really do that?

Was he angry enough to kill the man who took his Grandfather away from him?

Suddenly, the man in the leather jacket started shouting at a woman across from him, grabbing her wrists. Mike - for some reason spurred into action, even though he wouldn't defend himself in his own life; not even to school bullies - grabbed the guy's hand, pulling it back; the anger he felt at Gramps' death and at how this man was treating the woman fuelling him and making him feel no guilt when the guy cried out in pain.

"What the hell?" Mike ignored the woman and quickly dodged - the tickle in his neck somehow telling him someone was behind him. He turned and felt himself pale, seeing five other guys coming at him from all angles to help their fallen comrade. Mike quickly let go of the guy's wrist and dodged, twirling to punch another who attempted to grab him and throw him into a wall.

Realising that he wouldn't get out of this in one piece, he decided to make a break for it. Using his finely-honed skills brought about from hours in an abandoned warehouse, he quickly leapt over a fence, shooting a web up to the top of a building - pulling it before releasing, letting himself fly up and grab onto the wall, climbing the rest of the way.

Apparently the men knew this area well and were quickly on his back, having used a fire escape he had been too panicked to see. He saw the blonde man he originally attacked on the opposite rooftop from him and found himself sprinting faster than he had ever done before, leaping the rooftop and pouncing on him, dragging the sleeve up so he could see the man's wrist.

No tattoo.

He looked at it, almost puzzled for a second - giving the man the upper hand and pushing him away - making him land hard on an unsteady bit of roof and fell through to an old wrestling ring that was no longer used. He groaned as he slowly moved, his back aching and his wrist throbbing and he realised these would be more injuries he would have to come up with excuses for.

He was pretty sure his Grammy was considering selling his bike, the amount of injuries he claimed to have sustained from it.

"You better run, kid!" He heard someone yell from above him. "I know you! I saw your face!"

Mike quickly pulled himself up, wanting to get out of there before they ambushed him. He found himself looking at the wrestling posters - the men wearing masks...

As a small boy of course he'd fantasised about being a superhero.

And now?

He had the powers. He had the tragic back story and motive - he could do good. He could do something that actually _meant _something. And he could hide his face from people because in all the best comic books the heroes led double lives.

And that way, Grammy would never find out what he was doing.

* * *

He set to work creating a mask. He had spent hours brainstorming but eventually decided to draw his inspiration from what had started everything.

A spider.

He took a simple balaclava and made some additions (and no one could say that having his grandmother teach him how to sew would never come in useful) and added in some sunglasses so no one would see his eyes. He was trying to come up with an entire outfit - although he was also fighting himself thinking about how to make it not seem as gay as his ideas and drawings were making it seem. He wanted a blue and red theme, with maybe webbing and spiders eyes for his own.

Although this was all going to take a lot of time and money - but he could manage. He genuinely wanted to help people and thought it would probably inspire confidence if people thought he was superhuman - seeing just a guy wouldn't be as good as a mysterious superhero figure in a suit.

His life was now extremely hectic - whilst trying to avenge Gramps' death, he still had to deal with school, bullies and the mentorship programme that he was pretty sure was supposed to end soon but neither he nor Harvey was mentioning it.

Every night he went out and found that - instead of trying to get the one guy - he was just trying to stop bad guys. He knew that was a childish way of looking at it, but that was all he could say it was. He was pleased that he was being noticed - one time he had even webbed up a guy and left him hanging outside the police station (more for his own amusement than anything) and when he swung away people had gotten videos; he had looked it up on youtube (and found people were calling him 'Spiderman' because of the webbing and he found he actually kind of liked it) and there were comments about the clothes he was wearing - some sciencey people were saying how spandex would drastically improve the rate of his swinging.

Ha. Like he would ever use spandex.

But then he found himself ordering different coloured spandex and working for three days before finally finishing his suit.

He'd never been more proud over anything - it looked exactly as he had envisioned.

He grinned at his reflection in an uptown building as he stuck to the wall. He didn't think he'd ever get as much joy from doing this as he did - but swinging through the city - he would happily do it for the rest of his life if he could.

One night he was chasing a mugger and finally caught up with him, webbing him to the floor and kneeling to engage in some friendly banter before the police got there. However, the man seemed a lot cleverer than he would have guessed.

"Why are you doing this, man?" He spat, trying fruitlessly to escape. "What, no control in your own life so you decided to take control of the city? What is it, overbearing father? Boss? You're too scared to face things without a mask, is that it?"

Mike found himself quickly leaving the area, swinging home and seamlessly slipping through his bedroom window. He ripped his costume off as he thought.

Maybe the guy was right?

Was he just doing this to try and bring some sort of sense of justice to his own life?

* * *

The next day he had a chance to change that - he was in the gymnasium at school, helping hang banners; part of his ongoing punishment from the drug deal was that he'd had to join the student's union on a temporary basis. This meant he had to help out if there were any large events scheduled at school. He was just finished on one before a noise sounded behind him, followed by a girl crying out in frustration.

"Flash, you did that on purpose!" She yelled. Mike looked to see a girl who had been painting a sign had now abandoned it - blue paint splashed all over it. It wasn't hard to see what had happened, Flash (the school's alpha male and Mike's regular bully) had thrown his basketball wide and knocked the pot of paint over.

The teen in question laughed. "Maybe. Even if I didn't, I should've - that's the worst banner I've ever seen; we're supposed to be making people cheer the team on, not making them think the students are all retarded." He laughed easily, glancing over at his team who laughed with him.

Mike - flashing back to what the mugger had said yesterday - picked up the basketball, looking at Flash.

"Hey, Ross - pass the ball," Flash held his hands out expectantly.

"Why don't..." Mike tried to be slightly braver - the guy was right; without a mask he was virtually powerless. "Why don't you just take it from me?"

"What?" Flash laughed at this out of character show of bravery.

"You heard me. Just take it," Mike held it out. Flash looked slightly unnerved by this but walked forward, easily grabbing hold of it but being unable to take it from Mike's hands. He grabbed on with both hands and pulled but couldn't take it.

"C'mon, Flash," Mike said, a smirk on his face.

"Whatever, Ross," he spat, turning and walking away. Mike took this opportunity to bounce it off the bully's back and caught it in his hands again. He was glad he had a firm hold over his powers - before any of this superhero stuff he would have accidentally webbed the guy.

Flash turned around, anger in his eyes. "You asked for it, Ross," he snarled, starting towards Mike, who was bouncing the basketball on the floor.

"Get him, Flash!" Someone yelled, and Mike quickly dodged around Flash, intending to make a point by getting the ball through the hoop in one.

However, he forgot about his strength and had jumped and slammed the ball through the net.

Causing the backboard to smash at the same time.

* * *

Mike glanced up from where he had been making circles with his feet, sat outside the principal's office as Harvey exited the room. "Sorry," he immediately said, as soon as Harvey looked at him. "I... I didn't want... Grammy's at work, and she can't afford to come down 'cause we need the money and... and I didn't... I don't have anyone else to call." He looked back down at his knees.

To his surprise, he felt Harvey sit down next to him. "Just be glad they're not making me pay for the backboard," Harvey said. "I would own your ass for life."

"What did the principal say?" Mike asked, dreading the answer. "Did he... did he say anything about the programme? Does he want you to... to stop...?"

"He asked me if I wanted to stop the programme and have my name taken off the call list - which yes, I am now on because apparently you need constant supervision and I can't afford to have the kid I mentor be seen to be in the school's custody because no one could come for him."

"But... but the programme?"

Harvey eyed him. "It's still on," he replied. "But let me be clear," he stood up, fastening his jacket as he did so, causing Mike to stand up to follow him. "If there are anymore fights," he surveyed the bruises and grazes Mike had gotten from crime-fighting, critically, "if there's any more trouble of any kind - this whole mentorship thing is over. Got it?"

Mike nodded quickly, following him out - he had been suspended for two days and so was accompanying Harvey to the firm until Grammy finished work (so Harvey could 'keep an eye on him', apparently).

"Oh," Harvey suddenly stopped in the middle of the corridor. "Did you do all that just to humiliate that other boy?"

Mike flushed, looking down at the floor. "He... I wouldn't say that it was humiliation - he needed to..."

"This the kid who's been giving you all those bruises?"

Mike made an odd motion with his head before finally nodding; because to be fair Flash _had _given him some of his current bruises.

"So you just purposefully humiliated the kid who's been bullying you?"

"Yes, sir," Mike said in a small voice. It all sounded like it was leading up to a large lecture before the news that the mentorship programme would be cancelled.

"Good boy," Harvey said, his lips twitching slightly as Mike glanced up at him with large eyes - an odd feeling in his chest.

Mike felt fondness well up inside him as he followed Harvey - wishing more than anything that he could tell him his secret.

But he had seen the movies and read the comics - relaying your secret identity to someone would only put them in danger - and Spiderman was attracting a lot of attention from various people.

But it would have been nice to have somewhere safe to go to if something happened. Somewhere where someone understood what he was going through.

For a second in that small smile - Mike thought Harvey might be that person.

* * *

**A/N Oh gosh, this was so long O.O I hope you enjoyed - there will be 3 chapters overall and I don't know how long it'll take me to write them - this had a lot of exposition so I'm not sure how long they'll be in contrast now that I've firmly established Mike as Spiderman. And I haven't abandoned Lessons in Parenting either, don't worry - but just please keep in mind that having two multi-chapter stories on the go (with such long chapters) will maybe make updates a little slower.**

**Oh, and naming Gramps 'James' is I _think _canon - Mike refers to him at some point in the series as 'Grandpa Jimmy'; obviously Jimmy is short for James and since that's Mike's middle name... Yeah. That was why I named him that :)**

**Well that's all from me - please let me know what you think :)**


	2. World Full Of Killing And Blood Spilling

**A/N Hey guys - I ****_really _****appreciate the reviews, and I'm glad you like it - I'm sorry this is quite late, I lost my muse for a good while but managed to knock at least half of this out in just over a day so hopefully it's come back ;)**

**And I sincerely hope everyone reading is enjoying it so far :)**

* * *

**Chapter 2:****  
A World Full Of Killing, And Blood-Spilling**

* * *

It was really quiet.

There was a certain feel to the night air - it felt dangerous to be out. It was getting cold; early October time was already upon them and it wouldn't be long before you would be able to see your breath in the air.

A car parked in an empty lot, devoid of any human interaction - the driver got out, locked the door and left. Almost as soon as he was out of earshot, another man slipped from the shadows, his hood up and his hands covered with black gloves. He smoothly jimmies the lock open and is soon sat in the car, flexing his hands as he sits still for a moment, deciding what to do first.

"Dude, that was _smooth_!"

He twirled around and hit the back of his head off the window in surprise when he was faced with a red and blue masked vigilante.

"I mean, really - that was quick! How do you do it? Like... that was really good. I'm kinda impressed."

The man went to open the door again to get out, but something shot out of the masked man's wrist, sticking to the window of the car door and slamming it shut again.

"What the hell?" The car thief tried to push the door open again but the webbing stuck tight - nothing he tried could unstick it. In his desperation he wound the window down and managed to climb out. As soon as he was one the floor he turned, his heart pounding - but the figure in the car was gone.

He stood up, backing away before the voice appeared behind him.

"I can be smooth too, y'know."

He turned and saw the guy that had been in the car. He had a full length spandex costume on - the thief didn't even know what he was supposed to be. The blue and red colours interwove and there was a small, tessellated pattern that almost looked like spiderwebs. He was covered from head to foot, and his mask made his eyes look large and spider-like.

"What are you? A cop?"

The spider guy paused for a minute.

"A cop? Really? Wearing this?" He then held out his wrist and shot out more web, this time attaching the thief's hands to the wall with ease.

"Hey, let me go!"

"Nope," the vigilante meandered forwards and pulled his sleeve down, checking his wrist. Apparently he didn't find what he was looking for and relaxed slightly. "Well this could've gotten a lot worse," he said lightly, and the thief could just tell that behind the mask there was a bright grin. "Enjoy your day, Sir. This has been your friendly, neighbourhood Spiderman helping you out and putting you away."

He turned just in time to see a cop pull up on a bike, holding his gun out.

"You in the suit!" He yelled, apparently completely oblivious to the thief stuck on the wall. "Take off the mask, and put your hands behind your head!"

"What? Why?" Spiderman sounded genuinely confused. "I just caught you a..." he gestured vaguely behind him to the car thief before sighing. "Doesn't matter. I'm gonna go - and look; I did your job for you, without any weapon at all," he added brightly, dodging just as the man shot his gun.

"Woah, woah - what was that for?"

The officer quickly spoke into the radio on his shoulder, "Officer in need of back-up, I have the vigilante known as 'Spiderman' and need assistance ASAP."

"Really? You want to arrest _me_? The guy doing all the work?" His voice was disdainful but as he took a step closer, the officer fired again. He easily dodged and decided to just run. He heard the cop bark something into his radio but quickly webbed a building, soon out of sight and swinging through the city.

* * *

Mike winced as he sat down in Harvey's office - after his encounter with the car thief, he ran into several police officers and in his haste to get away had been careless and fallen a few times; his costume could withstand a bit of damage and so he usually just got bruises and didn't scrape his skin. This didn't stop him from somehow managing to have a cut lip, a large scrape down the side of his face and a bruised cheekbone.

Something that Harvey picked up on straight away.

"Didn't we have a conversation about no more fights?" He asked, his eyes exploring Mike's face.

"This wasn't a fight, lay off," Mike mumbled - and it was that tone that made Harvey believe him.

"Well what was it then?"

Mike shrugged. "Bike stuff. I'm clumsy."

"Sure," Harvey said - not believing him in the slightest, but what could he do when the kid was possibly more stubborn than him? "Let me see that," he pushed Mike's forehead so that the kid leant back, displaying his injuries in the light. Harvey sucked in a breath. "You run head first into a wall?" Mike snorted slightly - amused that Harvey was actually pretty close to the truth. He had gotten startled as a cop fired at him and had misjudged a swing, going right into a building.

Harvey carefully took Mike's face in his hands and turned it gently, his thumbs softly touching his cheeks, apologising (exceedingly quietly) when the kid winced as he touched a tender area.

"You might have cracked one of these cheekbones, kid," Harvey told him - _not _in a concerned way. "You been to the hospital?"

"I can't pay to be looked at - Grammy keeps saying she'll take me but I convinced her I'm fine. I don't need to go to - "

"Donna when's my next meeting?" Harvey said, ignoring him.

"You're scheduled to meet with Curt Connors in two hours," Donna reminded him. "Want me to take Boy Wonder here to the emergency room?"

Harvey eyed Mike critically for a second before standing up. "No, I'll do it - you'll end up mothering him and I don't want that sort of positive reinforcement drilled into him for getting into a fight."

"It wasn't a fight, and I don't need the hospital," Mike weakly defended himself. "And this isn't exactly in the contract for the programme," he said slyly, glancing up at Harvey for his reaction.

The man simply gave him a bit of a glare and straightened his suit, buttoning his jacket and leaving, trusting that Mike would just follow.

"You can come with me to the meeting afterwards," Harvey told him as they left. "It's just after this session's supposed to end, but you haven't stuck to the timetable for over a month."

This was true - it was supposed to be two to three hours a week in which Harvey dutifully 'mentored', but it quickly evolved into two or three hours a day - and now Mike was going in on weekends because he'd finished his homework and was bored.

He left before it could get to evening though. Harvey thought nothing of it - he had to be back home for dinner and his Grandmother must worry now after what happened to James. He didn't even connect it to the odd injuries Mike sometimes appeared with.

"Donna, we'll be back later - please stop sending me links to videos via email," he warned her. "My phone never stops going off."

"But they're amazing!" She told him. "You never seemed to mind when it was footage of what happened in the city last year!"

"That's because if I hadn't seen them, Tony would never let me hear the end of it," Harvey told her. "I don't care about this Spider guy."

"Spider guy?" Mike perked up, getting closer to the adults to talk. "You mean Spiderman?"

"Don't tell me you're obsessed with him too?" Harvey rolled his eyes.

"It must be a hip, young person thing," Donna said sagely, smirking at him. "All the associates go mad whenever there's new footage."

"I'm sorry - any guy who wears a skin tight spandex leotard and swings through the city on a spider web isn't sane."

"Steve wears skin tight spandex," Donna reminded him.

"Donna, there's a difference between _Captain America _and some vigilante with an obvious grudge against blonde criminals on the lower east side."

"Why are you on first name terms with half of the Avengers?" Mike asked - having felt his face flush when they had been talking about Spiderman.

"Even superheroes need lawyers," Harvey told him.

"Can I meet Iron Man?" Mike begged. "Or Dr. Banner? They're like, my childhood heroes! Please?"

"Maybe if you're a good boy and go to the hospital, I'll think about it," Harvey said patronisingly, before propelling him towards the exit by pushing one of his shoulders. They were getting into one of the elevators when a couple of associates also joined them, talking amongst themselves in a low tone. Thanks to Mike's spider hearing, he had no problems listening in as Harvey idly answered a text on his phone.

"Dude, did you see that footage of Spiderman from last night?"

"It was awesome! The guy nearly gets shot, slams into a wall and faceplants the sidewalk afterwards and he still gets away from the cops? Guy's a hero."

One of them snorted. "Not according to the cops."

Mike glanced over at Harvey, hoping he hadn't heard any of that. The man was smart - obviously he wouldn't be quick to suspect Mike as the masked vigilante, but it would only be a matter of time, if the injuries he was sustaining became consistent.

What if he thought Grammy was hurting him?

He couldn't have Harvey telling CPS about them.

What if the hospital thought they were suspicious?

"Earth to Mike," Harvey tapped him (gently) on the back of the head. "You have concussion as well as a - ?"

"What if they think it's suspicious?" Mike asked worriedly, his lips wobbling as he thought about it.

"What?"

"What if they see this," he gestured to his face, "and think Grammy's not fit to look after me? Not that I need looking after, I'm 16 - but what if they call CPS or something?"

"As much as I'd like to agree and mock you right now - you really think they'll believe that your _grandmother _is assaulting you?" Harvey said, rolling his eyes disdainfully as he got into the town car, whilst Mike scowled but got in the other side._  
_

"It could happen, you don't know - people say things!"

* * *

As it turned out, he didn't need to worry at all. The doctors were friendly and smiled at him, and chatted to him as they looked at his face and carefully prodded his cheeks.

"So what happened?" A nurse asked him.

"Fell off my bike," he gave her a sheepish grin.

"He's clumsy," Harvey muttered from where he was stood off to the side (his reasoning being that since he was the one paying for it, then he had a right to see what the doctors were doing). Mike gave a small smirk - if only Harvey knew that his balance had become much better since being bitten.

"Well you don't seem to have done too much damage," the doctor told him, before writing something on a piece of paper, tearing it and handing it Harvey. "There we go, Dad - just get this prescription filled for painkillers."

Mike snorted and smirked at Harvey, who put his hand on Mike's shoulder and squeezed (a little too tightly). "Thank you, doctor," he said, squeezing a little harder as he checked his watch. "Come on, _son_ - we have a meeting."

Mike snorted again but stood up and followed Harvey out, taking the prescription off him and saying he'd get it filled later. Harvey knew he was lying - he knew the kid didn't have any intention at all of doing it, and as much as he wanted to force him to - it would be Mike's own fault if he was in pain. He still refused to tell Harvey how he got the injuries - and however much he mumbled 'bike' Harvey could tell that wasn't how it was happening.

Mike crumpled up the prescription and stuffed it in his pocket, knowing that within a few days the bruises will have gone. The pain would stop by tomorrow. Some kind of super-healing powers were going on, he decided. Along with everything else, he seemed to heal incredibly quickly - he used to get migraines (cursed by his mother's side of the family) but he couldn't remember the last time he'd needed his medication.

"Alright, kid - you remember Curt," Harvey drilled him as they were on their way to his labs. Mike nodded. "Good - he seemed to like you so if you have to, you can talk."

"So kind," Mike huffed, sticking his tongue. "Thank you so much, sir."

Harvey swatted his knee. "Don't call me that. And don't wander off this time. You're lucky you weren't taken hostage in one of the labs and experimented on."

Mike gave a small smirk in response, but looked out of the window, not bothering to verbally reply. He still isn't sure whether he wants to tell Harvey or not. Part of him desperately wants _someone _to know - wants someone else to help carry the burden, but at the same time he doesn't know how Harvey would react.

And yes - it would be Harvey he told, if anyone.

He just doesn't know _why_.

"Remember - don't talk him to death, but don't be a shy Victorian débutante," Harvey told him, snapping him out of his reverie. Mike realised they were at the labs and scowled at him.

"I remember!"

"Good," Harvey said easily, slipping out of the town car's door. "Stop with the pouting - your face is already a sight, we don't want to scare Dr. Connors on top of that."

"I'm not pouting," Mike frowned, slamming his car door slightly.

"You want to just go home instead?" Harvey asked him, tilting his head.

"No," Mike sighed. "I'm just... I'm kinda tired, and my face is hurting and you're not being very sympathetic," _this _time he pouted.

"This meeting won't take too long," Harvey told him, in a surprisingly nice voice. "You want to just go home now? I can have Ray drive you home?"

Mike shook his head. "No, I want to see Dr. Connors again, but I just..." He sighed. "I'm fine."

Harvey raised an eyebrow but nodded, walking into the labs and not saying anything until their elevator hit the right floor and they strode into Curt's lab. Mike felt his attention being drawn to a hundred different things, but he remembered what Harvey had said and stayed close, only glancing wistfully at the various machines and errant pieces of paper that were settled on work benches.

"Harvey! Good of you to drop by!" Curt's warm voice travelled from his office and into the large area that Mike and Harvey were stood in. "And Mike! Pleasure to see you again," he smiled and shook Mike's left hand.

"Good to see you too, Doc," Mike smiled at him, glancing up to Harvey as if to say, '_See_? I _can _have nice manners and be courteous!'

"Jessica wanted a quick update on the serum," Harvey told him.

Curt's face darkened slightly. "You aren't the only one wondering; many of my employees are beginning to question how reliable my data _is_," Curt sighed. "I just need more time and to figure out this algorithm," he sighed again, gesturing at the papers Mike was currently reading.

He couldn't help himself and had shuffled away as Harvey and Curt were talking, flicking through the papers lying on the bench. In an instant his brain had started connecting dots, pulling up old memories of things he had read - about Dr. Connors' work, about the algorithm; books he had glanced through and the many things he had just been unable to stop himself learning. He was muttering to himself and scribbling on a spare piece of paper with a pencil.

"What are you doing?" Both Harvey and Dr. Connors asked. Harvey's tone was of warning - Curt's voice was cautious but curious at the same time.

"I'm just..." He bit his lip, thinking, tapping the pencil against his cheek. "This is the decay rate algorithm, right? This is what determines whether or not your serum works?"

"Well there's a great number of things which determine that but... yes. As it stands this is what is in the way of a huge step forward. Why do you ask?"

"And how do you know that?" Harvey couldn't help but chip in.

"Can I just..." Mike tailed off questioningly, ignoring Harvey's question. He kept his gaze on Curt, who nodded for him to continue. Mike turned the page over and scribbled a new algorithm. He picked up the paper and held it out for Dr. Connors, looking down at his feet when the man read it.

"Mike..." he breathed out. "This is... You... How did you do this?"

Mike gave an embarrassed smile and shrugged, tapping his head to indicate his genius.

"Come with me," Curt gave an excited grin and dashed further into the lab. Mike glanced over at Harvey guiltily, but the man simply raised an eyebrow at him and followed Dr. Connors. Mike skittered after them and stood nervously off to the side, watching as Curt input his algorithm.

"You don't need to bother," Mike said quickly, not wanting to be the cause of some sort of horrific accident in the labs. "It's stupid, it won't work."

"You should have more faith in yourself, Mike," Curt told him seriously, pressing a button to test the serum. "This will mix with the lizard DNA I've been working with - I have a somewhat fondness for the cold-blooded." Mike watched on a screen as a virtual software programme ran the algorithm. He saw a three legged mouse on the screen, slowly growing a leg back. He gasped in surprise but it quickly turned into horror as the mouse's leg became too big for it's body, too clawed, and it fell to the floor, dead.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I'm really sorry - I didn't think it would work anyway, I don't know why I bothered, I - "

"Mike; if we never tested our ideas; how would we ever know if they were right?" Curt asked him, although his comforting words lost some of their bearing as a frown appeared on his face as he watched the mouse constantly regrow a new leg; each time coming out slightly different - but each time always ending in death.

"Yeah, but I knew it wouldn't be right," Mike mumbled, looking down at his hands as he twisted his fingers together, picking at his nails.

"It is still a step further than I would have been were it not for your help," Curt assured him.

"Guys."

They both turned to see Harvey staring at the simulation, his eyes wide. The mouse on screen had just regrown it's fourth leg and a mechanical voice was stating that limb regrowth was successful. Mike's eyes widened and he glanced over at Dr. Connors, whose stare was fixated on the screen.

"Mike..." he breathed out. "This is... You did it," he said softly, turning to look at the teen. "This is remarkable..." The man laughed and clapped his hand on Mike's shoulder. "Harvey - whatever you do, don't lose this one," he grinned at Harvey.

Harvey shook his slowly, as if he couldn't believe it. "I guess that's all to the meeting," he murmured, still staring between Mike and the simulation on screen. "I'll tell Jessica the good news."

Curt nodded and grinned. "I'm going to try the serum on our _real _three-legged mouse," he grinned, inputting the code into a large machine and watching it spin, creating the serum.

Harvey nodded. "Let me know how it goes," Harvey told him, before turning to Mike. "C'mon, I'll give you a lift back to yours."

Mike nodded, still slightly shell-shocked, and walked out of the lab with him, grinning slightly when he heard Curt shouting for him to not hesitate in coming back one day.

* * *

The ride back was a quiet one, until Harvey glanced over at him. "How does your face feel?"

Mike shrugged, touching it slightly. "It's okay. It'll be fine soon," the pain was already receding thanks to his healing.

Harvey nodded before looking back at him. "I can't believe you did that," he said. Mike glanced over at him and was relieved to see that Harvey looked close to laughter.

"Me either," Mike confided, his lips trembling before a laugh broke free. Harvey shook his head but laughed as well, and after they rode in a companionable silence; sometimes glancing back over at the other and trying to stifle their laughter.

When the car pulled up outside Mike's house, the teen leapt out. "Thanks, Harvey - I'll see you later."

To his surprise, Harvey got out of the car as well. "Hold up, kid," he said, causing Mike to slow down.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked, his eyes widening.

"I need to talk to your Grandmother," Harvey told him. At Mike's petulant squawk, he rolled his eyes. "I need to tell her I took you to the hospital, genius. She'll make sure you get the prescription filled."

Mike sighed but walked in, letting Harvey follow. This was the first time Harvey had seen his house, and for the first time - Mike was glad his grandmother put her stress, anger of grief into cleaning. Sure it was small and kind of run down, but it was clean, tidy and homely.

"Hey, Grammy!" Mike shouted, walking towards what was presumably the kitchen, if the delicious scent Harvey could smell was anything to go by.

"Michael!" She gave him a warm hug, before clucking at him as she lifted his face. "Look at this," she tutted, running a gentle thumb along his injuries. "Have these been cleaned?"

"Uh, yeah, Harvey uh..." Mike glanced behind him. "Grammy, this is Harvey."

"I know who he is, Michael," she tutted, flapping at him with a tea towel. "He picked me up from work that night, remember?" Edith wasn't shy about talking about it. It may hurt, but she was never one to just shy away from something. "How are you, Harvey?" She asked him, giving him a tired but warm smile.

"I'm good, Mrs. Ross, how are you?"

"Oh, please, call me Edith," she smiled at him. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Harvey smiled at her. "Unfortunately, I have other plans - but thank you anyway. Mike," he added pointedly as the teen attempted to sneak upstairs unnoticed. Mike stopped and turned slowly, as if it pained him to do so. "Don't you have something to say?"

Edith marvelled at Harvey's ability to make her grandson do things he didn't want to do. She watched as Mike pouted at Harvey, and tried to hide her grin as Harvey raised an eyebrow, causing Mike to sigh and turn to her.

"Harvey took me to the hospital for my bruises and stuff," he muttered. "I'm fine."

"And?" Harvey prompted, causing Edith to fall slightly in love with him due to the way Mike obeyed his unsaid order.

"And I have a prescription for painkillers that needs filling," he told her, pulling the scrumpled bit of paper out of his pocket and passing it to her. She read it and nodded, attaching it to the fridge so she didn't forget.

"Thank you, Harvey," she said sincerely. "I know what my grandson's like when offered something free - his pride stops him. However, _my _pride hasn't been seen since 1959, so thank you very much for taking him. I'm never one to look a gift horse in the mouth."

Harvey grinned at her. "If only he took after you," he said.

"_Harvey_," Mike whined slightly, pushing him. Harvey smirked at him and he sighed. "I'm going to my room," he said in a perfect example of a teenage grunt and left the adults in the kitchen, after a very quick; "Bye, Harvey."

Harvey rolled his eyes before turning to Edith. "I should be going," he told her, before remembering what had happened that day. "Oh, I took him to a client's lab today, Dr. Curt Connors - "

"He was very appreciative of that," Edith told him, nodding. "Last time you went he talked for hours about the different machines and rooms."

Harvey gave a tight smile, not having realised that Mike had wandered last time. "He helped Curt solve an equation that was holding him back in his work today," Harvey told her. "He's been stuck on it for months and yet Mike was able to fix it in a few minutes."

Edith simply had a warm smile on her face. "I wish I could say I was surprised," she beamed. "He's always been like that. Fastest person in the room, and yet also the one you least suspect. You lead him down the right path, Mr. Specter," she threatened him with the spatula she was holding.

"I will," he promised honestly.

"Good," she nodded. "Someone needs to teach that boy how to use what he has for good," she checked on the food she had been cooking. "Would you be a dear and tell him that dinner's ready please?" She asked.

"Of course," he replied.

"And come back down to say goodbye before you leave!" She reminded him as he went upstairs, causing him to grin and shake his head. He was amazed at how well she was coping under the circumstances. Her husband had died only a month previous, and she was now the sole carer for a genius 16 year old, and yet she was acting as though all was well in her world. She had looked tired though. Harvey had seen twin bags underneath Mike's eyes and had felt his heart strings pull slightly when the kid told him he had heard his grandmother crying in the middle of the night. She had confessed to Mike that she couldn't sleep, and Mike had spent five minutes stumbling over his words as he tried to ask Harvey for advice.

Harvey's advice had been an equally stumbled; "That sucks. Tell her to go to a doctor or psychiatrist," (obviously slightly paraphrased but that had been the bulk of his stumbling).

He knocked on what was presumably Mike's door (it had a Star Wars poster on it) and opened the door. "Mike, I'm leaving - your grandmother said that dinner's ready."

Mike nodded from his position at his desk. Whatever had snapped in his brain to give them a small teen tantrum had clearly cooled and he stood up. "Alright. Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

Harvey realised this was Mike reaching out and knew it wasn't very often the kid did that. "Sorry, kid - I have work to do," he gave a glance around the room. "Have you ever heard of a hanger?" He scoffed, grabbing several clothes and throwing them in what he assumed was a laundry basket.

"Oh my god," Mike scoffed, rolling his eyes and opening his bedroom door. "Well this was great, _Dad_, but I have to have dinner now."

Harvey smirked at him before they both jumped slightly as Mike's backpack - which had been placed precariously on the edge of his bed - fell onto the floor. Harvey leant down to pick it up and place it back on the bed, before seeing something fall out.

"What's this?" Harvey picked it up, holding it properly so it wasn't crumpled. The red and blue spandex was easily recognisable to most citizens of New York with access to the internet and newspapers. "Mike," he turned, looking the teen in the eye. "What's this?"

Mike paled, swallowing. "It's... I just think that spider guy's pretty cool, so I thought that uh... me and Trevor thought it'd be cool if we..." He kept stuttering, drawing blanks in his mind at reasonable excuses. Eventually he just gave up and held out his hand. "Can I have it back?"

"Michael?" Edith shouted from downstairs. Still keeping his gaze fixed on Mike, Harvey walked past him to the open door.

"He'll be down in a minute, Edith - I'm just updating him on a case we're working on next week. It's huge."

"Well if his dinner gets cold I'm blaming you!" She shouted. Harvey couldn't help but give a small laugh before closing the door, not wanting her to hear the conversation.

"Mike what is this?" He asked. Mike huffed at him and sat down sullenly, not replying. "_You're _Spiderman?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Mike muttered.

"_You're _the masked vigilante, swinging through the city and beating up muggers?" Mike tilted his head, shuffling slightly as an admission. "Mike - what the hell," Harvey's voice was low and dangerous, there wasn't even a question in his voice. "How are you so _stupid_? _Why _would you even do this?"

"Because Gramps' death was my fault!" Mike suddenly yelled at him, standing up so that he was somewhat at eye level.

"Mike," Harvey's voice had softened, but he still looked down at the costume, his eyes dark. "That's not true. And even if it were - there's no reason to go insane and let people beat you up, while you're wearing a pair of tights."

"I saw it happen," Mike told him, his voice cracking. "That night. I'd stormed out the house. And... and he followed, trying to find me. This guy robbed a store I was in and I could've tried to help but I walked away. That guy shot Gramps." He heard movement and looked across to see that Harvey had sat down next to him. "I just... I don't like feeling helpless. I knew I should've done something but I didn't - so now I have to do something, I can't just _let _Gramps' killer get away, not again - " He was babbling slightly, and tried to quickly wipe away some tears that had somehow gotten through his barrier.

"Hey," he felt a hand on his shoulder and scrubbed at his face, sniffing. "Mike - I know you. What happened wasn't your fault. You did what anyone else would have done. You're sixteen," Harvey reminded him. "You're not a police officer, or a... well, I suppose this now classes you as a superhero," Harvey said, glancing down once more at the costume.

Mike gave a weak laugh and looked up at him (and dammit if those watery eyes weren't going to send Harvey to an early grave). "I have superpowers," Mike confided, before snorting. "I know, it sounds stupid, but... it's true."

"Okay, so I know the motive," Harvey said. "However ridiculous and dramatic it may be. The means?"

"Remember ah... remember when we went to Dr. Connors' lab for the first time and I went to stand outside?"

"Yes?" Harvey said slowly, narrowing his eyes.

"I uh... I kind of went somewhere else..." Mike confessed.

"What did you do?" Harvey asked, his voice low.

"I got bored," Mike defended himself. "So I just went to look at stuff. And I found this room full of spiders and - "

"You idiot," Harvey rolled his eyes. "That's where all of his serum work first began. The cross-species genetics; he started breeding spiders with a range of different abilities."

"Uh, well that might explain some things," Mike mumbled, scratching at the back of his neck. "I uh... I kinda got bitten by one, and - "

"You _what_?!"

Mike glanced up quickly at Harvey's tone. "It's really not big deal, I'm not dying, in fact I don't even have a scar, and - "

"You got bitten by a mysterious spider in a lab and you didn't tell anyone?" Harvey's eyes were wide. "Get up, we're going back to the hospital."

"What? Harvey I'm fine - all that happened was my... superpowers," he said weakly.

Harvey snorted. "Right. Which are? If one of them is anything along the lines of 'amazing powers of vomiting, headaches and fever' I am killing whoever certified you as being a genius and then I'm killing you."

"I can uh... I can climb walls," Mike told him. "And I get this prickling at the base of my neck, about where I was bitten - it helps me!" He added quickly, seeing Harvey's eyes darken and reach for the door. "It's like... my reflexes - remember you commented on them? I feel that and I just... I know what to do. Like, in a fight. And I can heal really quickly too. Look at my bruises," he offered up his cheek for inspection and Harvey saw that the dark blue bruise that had been there that morning was now a sickly yellow colour. "In two days you'll forget I had any."

"I doubt that," Harvey muttered, his arms crossed. "And your reasoning behind this ridiculous suit is...?"

"Streamlines," Mike shrugged. "It doesn't catch on things, it's easy to move around in... It... It helps when I'm swinging."

"That's another thing," Harvey added. "What is that? You throwing rope around and getting through the city like Tarzan?"

Mike shook his head and shot a web at a bottle of water on his desk, pulling it over to him. "Like that." Harvey stared at him, his eyes wider than Mike had ever seen them. "It's really useful," Mike told him. "I uh... everyone I fight have like, guns and knives - mine's very eco-friendly and doesn't leave any lasting damage - "

"They have knives," Harvey stated. "And guns."

"Well yeah, there's a reason they're called criminals," Mike told him, glancing up at him with a small smirk appearing on the corners of his mouth.

"So this is where all of these injuries are coming from," Harvey said. "Fighting with criminals."

"I catch them too," Mike informed him. "Didn't you see the news? I leave loads outside police stations! I'm a hero!"

He must have caught the look on Harvey's face, and sensed what Harvey was about to say. That is was dangerous. That he forbid it. That the kid would get himself hurt or worse and Harvey wouldn't be there to save him. That he was being an idiot and was way too young to deal with the consequences of this.

Harvey was going to say this. He was going to use each and every argument until he effectively closed Mike just like a certain billionaire with more money than sense and who - for example - decided to become a superhero using a robot suit they had created. Because Harvey represented an elite group of people who all shared Mike's motive of doing _good _and helping society and he has seen first-hand what kind of things led on from this destructive career path.

He was going to cite Mike dozens of situations he had heard this group of people had gotten into, how many injuries had been sustained - because the truth was he cared about the kid, dammit, and he wasn't going to let him throw his life away with something as stupid and reckless as this.

_"You lead him down the right path, Mr. Specter."_

He should listen to Mike's grandmother. Convince him that this wasn't a good idea.

But Mike genuinely _cared_. That was thing. He cared so much Harvey could see that he _ached _from it. He worried about what would happen if he wasn't there to protect the citizens of New York. He could see this had gone on from a personal vendetta - fuelled by teen angst and grief - to a selfless burden; fuelled by the need to do good and be acknowledged.

_"Someone needs to teach that boy how to use what he has for good."_

And dammit he cared about the kid.

He needed a protector, a mentor - Harvey knew nothing about being a superhero, or having superpowers, but he could at least try to make sure Mike didn't do anything stupid.

And even superheroes need heroes, right?

Especially punk-ass sixteen year olds.

"You make this yourself?" Harvey asked, holding the costume that - as he looked closer - had holes and nicks in it from Harvey didn't want to _know _what. Mike nodded. "Is this just spandex?"

"I told you, it helps for swinging," Mike told him, fidgeting.

"You didn't invest in anything knife-proof or bullet proof?"

Mike looked at him like he was crazy. "Uh, Harvey I had to give Grammy all of my allowance to fix the glass in the door because I slammed it too hard. I don't have money laying around on the off chance I need to buy kevlar."

"Tomorrow, you're coming with me to my suit guy."

Mike's eyes bulged out of his head. "You want my new suit to be an actual _suit_? I was trying to be symbolic and... and mysterious - I have a mask!"_  
_

"He can work magic on anything," Harvey promised him, a small smirk on his face. "Trust me."

Mike nodded, slowly taking the suit away from Harvey and pulling it into his lap, holding it like a toddler would hold a security blanket. "Thank you," he whispered, "for not making a big deal out of it."

"Oh believe me, kid - this is a _huge _deal," Harvey growled. "I'm being calm for your grandmother's sake. If she ever heard about this - "

"Grammy!" Mike jumped up. "Dinner! Shit, I need to go downstairs!" He shoved the suit back into his backpack and slid it under his bed. He opened the door and was almost face to face with his grandmother. "I was just coming," he assured her.

"Harvey Specter that meal is now cold - because you've kept him so long, _you _can eat some too." She glared at him - daring him to protest. He laughed slightly and shook his head.

"It would be my pleasure. I'm so sorry - Mike started talking about what happened in the lab today and wouldn't shut up. I thought if I humoured him it would be over quickly. A mistake, by the way, which I won't be repeating."

Edith shot him a wry grin. "You'll get used to it. Michael - table; now."

He nodded and hastened out of the room, before glancing back at Harvey. "Thank you," he said softly, smiling slightly.

The relief of no longer keeping this secret to himself, of sharing the burden... It felt amazing.

And he was glad he was sharing it with Harvey.

* * *

As promised, Harvey took Mike to Rene the next day. "I still don't see what you're hoping to achieve," Mike muttered as they walked in. "He can't fix my suit or make it... better or - or bullet proof, or - "

"Shut up," Harvey instructed, before smiling as Rene walked in from the back room. "Rene," he said warmly, shaking the man's hand.

"Harvey," he sounded surprised. "This is odd. You only came for your new suits last month. If you've damaged them in _any _way, I will _not _be happy."

"I'm offended, Rene," Harvey told him, although there was a slight sparkle in his eye. "When have you ever known me to damage a suit? I'm here for him," he jabbed a thumb at Mike, who shyly waved behind him.

"Hi."

Rene raised an eyebrow. "A little young to be affording our suits, wouldn't you say?"

"It's not that kind of suit he's wanting," Harvey said, leaning in slightly and lowering his voice. "We need a repair and revamp. Mike?" Mike hesitantly pulled the ripped suit out of his bag, glancing over at Harvey nervously. On the ride down he had said that he shouldn't worry - Rene would never tell anyone. And if Harvey trusted him, Mike knew he could as well. But it was still daunting having someone he didn't even know be told who he was.

Rene gave a small gasp at the costume and took it from Mike's hands. "Oh this is _wonderful_!" He exclaimed.

"Uh, thanks - I made it myself - "

"I've been waiting to get my hands on this since he was first on the news! I was just thinking that I would have to wait until SHIELD dragged him in," Rene muttered to himself, walking into the back, prompting Harvey to follow.

Mike tugged on his arm. "What was _that_?"

"Didn't I tell you? Rene was drafted by the government to work on various superheroes costumes. He has a knack for making them durable, comfortable and stylish."

"Is that how you have superheroes as your clients?" Mike asked. "You met them through Rene?"

"You think I can't close my own clients?" Harvey asked, raising an eyebrow. "When I first got Tony as my client he complimented my suit. I pointed him in the direction of Rene and now he's doing costumes for half of the superheroes in New York."

Mike just nodded, looking around the back room dazedly at the different designs for both stylish work suits and... other suits. He was half way through looking at a design for what looked like Captain America when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned to see Rene stood there, holding his measuring tape.

"Stand still," he ordered, and Mike did so, not bothering to argue that his suit _was _his measurements - but apparently that didn't seem to matter. "So you're the infamous Spiderman?" Rene asked, causing Mike to splutter slightly. Obviously the tailor _knew_, it was just a surprise for him to hear it said out loud by another person. "I'd have thought you'd be older. How old are you? 18, 19?"

"16," Mike mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Interesting," Rene murmured. "Harvey, how do you know him?"

"Punk got himself caught trying to deal drugs on school property," Harvey spoke up from where he had been a casual yet silent spectator at the back of the shop. "They got him enrolled on mentorship programme as punishment. I drew the short straw."

Mike stuck his tongue out at Harvey and was given a stern tap on the shoulder by Rene. "Stand still," he muttered. He pulled up Mike's ragged costume and examined it closely. "How long have you had superpowers?" The man asked him, pulling at the material to see how durable it was.

"Erm, about a month," Mike replied, fidgeting. "A month and a half?"

"How did you get them?"

Mike glanced over imperceptibly to Harvey. He didn't know whether saying would get Dr. Connors in trouble. "I got bitten by a spider," he summarised.

"Interesting,"Rene repeated. "Do you want to keep the same design?" Mike nodded. Most of the city knew who he was by his suit. And he was really proud of his design. "I'm assuming you're wanting to usual?" Rene asked, although he was looking at Harvey.

"Bullet proof, knife proof, still streamlined - you've seen footage of him swinging around like a mad man," Harvey rolled his eyes. "Nothing that takes in water either - if he gets waterlogged I'm assuming he won't be able to swing as easily."

"Do I get any say in this?" Mike asked, waving his hand slightly.

He was ignored.

"Well I should have that ready for you in a few days. Can you manage without it until then?" Rene asked Mike. "I assure you, New York won't be coming under attack any time soon. We can live without Spiderman for a few days."

Mike sighed but nodded, thanking the man. Harvey paid for it and they left. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" Mike blurted out. "I mean - buying the suit and... and turning a blind eye to the whole superhero thing..."

"The suit is an investment," Harvey told him. "If I have to know about you being a superhero, it's my responsibility to make sure you don't die. So if I have to spend money on that then so be it. And in all honesty? No - I'm not okay with you swinging around town in the middle of the night, fighting guys twice your size who have better weapons than you. But you're not going to stop and at least I know you won't become a criminal. That's one less thing for me to worry about."

"You worry about me?" Mike asked, a small grin on his face.

"Shut up, bug boy," Harvey grumbled, although letting a smirk show on his face at Mike's reaction to the name.

"That's _Spiderman _to you!" He said, thrusting a finger at Harvey.

"Whatever you say, Spiderkid," Harvey rolled his eyes. "Listen - the whole moral of my story was; don't die. Alright? And don't come crying to me if you get hurt, because I've done my bit to stop that," he gestured towards the shop behind them as they got in Harvey's car, indicating the suit he had just bought.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Mike saluted him.

Little did they both know, that would happen only a week later.

* * *

The suit he got back from Rene was much more comfortable than his first one. He hadn't changed the design much, except creating a spider symbol on the chest of it because, in his opinion, 'all superheroes need a logo'. It moved whenever he did - it felt just like a second skin and twice he had been nicked with a knife and not had it go through the material.

Grammy was at her sister's for the night, so he had the house to himself. Trevor had begged him to throw some sort of party but Mike refused, even though he felt bad for doing so. He hadn't spent any time with Trevor and Jenny outside of school - he just hadn't the time between Pearson Hardman and Spiderman to do anything else - even Grammy rarely saw him.

After promising himself for the hundredth time that he would spend more time with them all, he sat down on his desk chair in his room, swinging it aimlessly whilst listening to the police scanner he had constructed. Tonight was a good night for him to be crime fighting - with Grammy gone he wouldn't need to hide or be quiet when he crawled back; usually bruised or bleeding.

The scanner picked up a transmission and Mike scrolled through the numbers in his head to figure out what the one he had just heard meant. It didn't even make sense - it just said 'disturbance' on the bridge, but was requesting as much armed back up as possible, as well as all other rescue vehicles. Hastily, Mike tugged his clothes off, revealing the new suit underneath - he usually wore it under his clothes in case he needed to do something quickly.

He was soon out of his window, swinging through the city and soon coming to the bridge, his eyes widening as he saw the devastation. Cars had been overturned and smashed, and _something _large and reptilian had just swiped at another one, throwing it over and into the water. Mike quickly swung down, attaching a web to it and holding it as tightly as possible - he had more strength from the spider bite but he was still struggling to hold the car. His muscles burnt but he soon attached it to the bridge, peering in and finding there wasn't even anyone in it.

Another one flew off and he quickly saved it - again finding the people in it had no doubt fled. He did the same without about 5 or 6, finally coming close to what he could only describe as a large, mutant lizard. It roared at him and tried to charge him, causing him to duck and roll underneath it, through it's legs.

It swiped at him with it's tail, hitting him in the arm and trying to grab him with it's claws. He leapt out of the way, ignoring the ache in his arm and shot a web at it's feet, making it trip up and fall. It gave an indignant roar and jumped up, slashing it's claws in the air before appearing to falter, it's arm becoming slightly smaller - as if it were moulting away from it's body.

It howled and turned, running away and smashing a car out of it's way in it's haste. Mike quickly tied it to the bridge as he had with the others, and was about to run after the lizard, before he heard a man yelling desperately.

"Please, you gotta help - my kids are in that car!"

He turned and saw a man stood at the side of the bridge, leaning over the railing and trying to peer inside the car. Mike glanced back to the lizard. He could find out what it was - he could try to subdue it and call the police... but then the kids in the car would probably die.

Making his decision, he leapt down off the railing and hit the car, ready in case the webbing snapped with his additional weight. Thankfully it held fast and Mike smashed at the back window, breaking it. He heard a little boy and girl crying and noticed their screams increased when they saw him.

"It's okay," Mike tried to reassure them. "It's alright - I'm here to help you; I'm gonna get you back to your dad," he promised them. They wouldn't listen to him, terrified at being suspended in mid air, and with a masked man behind them. Mike made the decision to take his mask off, and was relieved they soon stopped crying. "It's alright - I'm just a normal guy. See? I'm just a normal guy. C'mon, what say we get out of here, huh?"

He held out a hand and the little boy - slightly more daring than his sister - held his own out, trying to climb up through the car and towards Mike. The girl was crying and pulling at her seatbelt, causing the little boy to stop and look back at her in horror.

"Here, hold my mask," Mike told the boy, crawling carefully towards the girl. "Hi, what's your name?"

"Daisy," she whispered.

"Hi, Daisy - you having some trouble with your belt?" She nodded and Mike carefully positioned himself so he was bracing against her seat and the front seats. He put his arm in front of her. "Okay - on the count of three I'm gonna let this go; you brace against this seat, alright?" He said, tapping the front seat. She nodded and he counted down, managed to unstrap her and take her in his arms before she hit the front seat.

"Wasn't that easy?" He grinned at her. She gave a weak smile back. "C'mon - let's go back to your dad," he smiled at both children and the boy gave him his mask back. Putting it on, he shifted the girl in his arms before looking at the boy. "I can't carry you both," he said. "I'll take one of you then come back and get the other, alright?"

They nodded and the little boy insisted on his sister going first. However, just as Mike was about to web the bridge and get back up, he heard a _whoomph _sound. Looking around, his jaw dropped inside his mask at the flames licking the front of the car. The fuel tank must have leaked and because the car was swinging vertically, it would have fallen to the front. He wasn't sure what had sparked it, but looked over at the little boy, who was staring, aghast, at the flames.

"Okay - new plan," he said quickly. "I'll hold your sister, kiddo - you get on my back. Can you do that?" The boy hastily did so, gripping tightly. Mike nodded in approval and turned, shooting a web up to the bridge. He carefully shimmied up - unable to spring up because of the extra weight.

They were nearly at the top and Mike was beginning to breathe again when he felt the little boy's arms shudder against him and slacken their grip. "No, no, no - keep holding on, kiddo!" He gasped.

They were _almost _to the top...

Suddenly, the little hands were no longer around his neck and he tried to swing around to see where the boy was, and could see him falling - almost in slow motion. Mike could hear his screams - heard Daisy's, heard their fathers, and he could hear his own as well. He couldn't do anything - he couldn't reach out and web the kid because then he'd drop his sister.

He managed to pull himself up and basically throw Daisy into her dad's arms before looking down, about to rescue him but... He was gone. Mike felt his legs drop beneath him in shock, and couldn't bring himself to look at the now devastated family in front of him.

He took a shaky breath and managed to stand up, glancing over at them finally. "I'm... I'm _so _sorry," he croaked. "I tried - I couldn't make two trips, I had to take them both at once, I - I'm sorry..."

"You tried," the man in front of him whispered. "You tried to save them both. You got my little girl back but... oh my god," he made a keening moan and dropped to his knees, still clutching Daisy in his arms. "My boy!" He started sobbing, burying his face in Daisy's hair.

"I'm sorry," Mike whispered, hastily backing away, feeling pain surrounding his body, both physically and mentally.

The man kept sobbing.

* * *

Mike was in shock.

At least - he was pretty sure he was in shock. He didn't know what shock felt like, but he knew he'd _had _a shock - a pretty big one at that, and he wasn't even sure where he was going. He had at first been wandering aimlessly, feeling tears coming to his eyes before blinking them away. The physical injuries soon caught up with him though, and he finally realised that he wasn't even in his part of town.

There was no way he'd be able to make it back to his house.

He spotted a street name and closed his eyes slightly, conjuring a mental map of New York in his head. One of the streets close to this sounded familiar, and he was struggling to place it - until it finally clicked.

Harvey's home.

He'd been glancing through personnel files at Pearson Hardman one day for lack of anything else to do and had seen Harvey's address. He hadn't thought anything of it - he only remembered it because he'd read it.

But now it looked like it would come in handy.

He managed to swing most of the way before having to stop - the pain in his arm from the lizard's tail and then carrying children and cars was too much and he struggled to hold onto the web once he had shot it. He limped round back streets instead, and finally crawled up the side of Harvey's building - counting the apartments so he knew which one was Harvey's. He had known he wouldn't be let in through the front - the doorman would no doubt take one look at him and call the police.

Hell, the police were probably already looking for him - he'd murdered a little boy. He felt the tears rise to his eyes again and this time didn't bother trying to stop them, the fear he felt from the police finding him combined with the guilt and horror of what happened was too much for the teen to bear.

He managed to crawl onto the balcony and collapsed onto the ground, catching his breath through his tears before hastily just whipping his mask off and leaving it on the ground next to him, enjoying the feeling of fresh air tendrils around his face. He sniffed and tried to stop crying before standing up and knocking on the glass window, before pulling it open and slipping inside.

The lights were on, so Harvey was undoubtedly home. "H - Harvey?" He whispered, rubbing at his eyes and trying to stop making the embarrassing noises of loud crying he was making.

He heard a noise and soon saw the man himself peer cautiously around a corner - his guard soon dropping when he saw Mike. "Mike, what the hell_ happened_?" He asked, walking over and placing his hands on the teen's shoulders, bending slightly to look him in the eye. "Are you alright?"

Mike shook his head, but was overwhelmed with a feeling of safety at being the condo and felt himself falling forwards, leaning his forehead against the man's chest and sobbing slightly.

"Mike what's wrong?" Harvey asked, in a gentler voice than Mike had ever heard the man use. "Is this something that happened on the bridge? It was on the news," he informed him, slowly moving his arms to encircle the distraught teenage boy. "They said you were there, that Spiderman was there - what happened?"

Mike gave a huge sniff and moved his head so that his ear was against Harvey's chest, his face free for him to talk but he didn't stop clutching onto Harvey. "There was this... this big... lizard thing... I don't know what it was but - but it kept throwing cars off the bridge and... this one car I'd attached to the railings to stop it falling but it," he hiccuped. "It had two kids inside. I went down to get them but I had to take them both at once and... and I had to have the little boy on my back but... but his arms weren't strong enough and he lost his grip and..." he sniffed, refusing to say anymore.

Harvey didn't speak for a short time, simply slowly rubbing Mike's back comfortingly, rocking them both slightly on their feet. He wouldn't say he was good at comforting people, but having a little brother who used to suffer from night terrors had certainly helped with his comforting skills. "It wasn't your fault," Harvey said softly. "You tried to save them - it was just bad luck. You weren't to blame for this, Mike," he whispered, cupping the back of the teen's head and sighing. "It wasn't your fault," he repeated.

Mike gave a small nod and hiccuped again, pulling himself away and wiping at his eyes embarrassedly. Harvey graciously waited until Mike was ready, before walking further into his condo. "Come with me - what did you do, get hit by a semi?"

"Lizard," Mike corrected wearily, following him and collapsing onto his couch, rubbing at his nose. "And I think I burnt my suit when the car set on fire."

_A car had set on fire?_

Harvey managed to stop himself pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration but it was a close-run thing. He would ask Mike more questions about the bridge incident another time. Now though, all he could do was to be there for the kid.

He wasn't used to being there for people, but he would have to be because - by the looks of the kid - he didn't have anyone else in the world to share his burden with.

Harvey resigned himself to being that person. He knew this wouldn't be a one-time thing; he decided to have his first aid kit stocked up in a more detailed manner for the next time the kid turned up on his balcony.

"Show me this burn," he ordered gently, holding out a hand. Mike wiggled down and let Harvey pull his costume down past his shoulder to see the injury. Harvey tutted and hesitantly cleaned it, taking his time. He kept looking at Mike's face whilst he did it, frowning when he saw the teen was just staring into the distance, his eyes clouded with sadness and his face pinched and pale.

He worried about how much more pain this kid could take.

* * *

**A/N Well at least it was slightly shorter than the last chapter XD I hope you enjoyed it - I've changed details from the film to make it more of an angst-fest, I hope none of you lovely lot mind :) Please review and let me know what you thought!**

**Oh and anyone who's wondering - this won't actually _feature _any of the Avengers. They just get mentioned because Harvey seems the type to be friends with Tony Stark and some of it is good for plot direction ;)**


	3. Watch As We All Fly Away

**A/N Hey guys - I ****_really _****appreciate the reviews, and to know that you're enjoying it is incredible :) I'm SO sorry about the wait, but you all know what real life is like XD**

**Thank you all so much for sticking with me until the end :)**

* * *

**Chapter 3:****  
Watch As We All Fly Away**

* * *

Mike started throwing a ball that was created from elastic bands up into the air and catching it, repeating it over and over as he thought. To his surprise, the father of the children on the bridge had gone on TV and had publicly commended Spiderman for trying to save both his kids. Whilst this had eased his guilt slightly, he knew he'd forever be haunted by the memory of the little boy falling from his back.

Harvey had also, surprisingly, been an enormous help to him. Mike sometimes just turned up to his condo out of the blue with the same, desperate, 'I need to talk to someone' look in his eyes and always, Harvey would pull him in and give him some hot cocoa (which he had found out Mike had a passion for and so after a few visits that proved he needed a steady supply of it, he bought some for these times) and listen as he talked, or would just quiz him on law terms, or what he had learnt at the firm that day, or just talk to him about the case he was working on at the moment.

The mentorship programme didn't have a specific end date, and both Harvey and Mike had noticed (obviously not mentioning it to the other) that they really hoped it didn't have one. Mike felt like he _belonged _somewhere when he went and lounged in Harvey's office, being told off as he rested his shoes on Harvey's apparently expensive coffee table.

"Harvey," Mike said as he threw the elastic band ball in the air as he thought; lying upside down on a chair in the man's office so that his legs went up the back of the chair, his feet resting neatly on top of it. "If you were an evil genius - "

"Record shelf."

"I haven't finished!"

"No, but you finished the last three times you asked me, and my answer is still the same. If I was an evil genus and had a secret lair, it would be behind my record shelf. And I wouldn't wear a cape. Or wear thigh high boots _or _tights. And I wouldn't be beaten by Spiderman, because I'm smarter than him."

Mike stuck his tongue out, unable to say much because Donna was undoubtedly listening in through the intercom. Instead, he threw the ball up again.

"If you were a ginormous lizard..."

"If you wanted to get the hell out of my office any time soon..." Harvey said in a bored tone, glancing up from his paperwork. Mike sighed but slowly slid up so that he was sitting in a more conventional manner.

"Do you know if Dr. Connors is at the lab?" He asked. It was a weekend, which was why Mike was at the firm rather than school - and Grammy had friends and distant relatives over, and he'd rather be here than there.

Harvey raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea. Why?"

Mike shrugged. "School stuff. He could help."

"Well if you have school work to do, why are you here?" Harvey asked, moving on to the next paper.

"Because you get bored and you miss me when I'm not here," Mike told him, grinning as he stood up, grabbing his backpack which held yet more stolen law books and a very well hidden record he had pinched when Harvey went to the bathroom. Donna had raised an eyebrow but offered no comment. Mike knew he would be found out, but it wasn't as if he was stealing it to sell or never give back. He was just borrowing it. Harvey had mentioned something about The Moody Blues, and Mike remembered how much Gramps had loved them. So he found one of their records in Harvey's collection and was hoping that he wouldn't even notice it was missing. Mike would listen to it tonight and sneak it back in the morning.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Mike said, leaving.

Harvey nodded, immersed in his paperwork.

* * *

Mike hesitantly peeked around the door of the lab. The lights were on and yet there was no one there. He edged through the doorway and walked towards Dr. Connors' office. He gazed around the various walls and whiteboards which had equations scribbled all over them. He stepped forward and heard something crunch slightly under his feet.

It looked like skin. Some kind of reptilian skin that had been shed recently.

"Mike?"

He whirled around, heart beating before realising that it was Dr. Connors. "Hi, Doc," he gave a small smile. "Sorry, I was just... I uh..."

"Can I help you?"

Mike nodded, even though the man didn't look very well. He was holding his bad (Mike wasn't sure how to refer to it; non-existent sounded too harsh) arm close to himself and his breathing sounded harsh.

"I was just wondering... Uhm. I have this project for school - I thought maybe you could help with something."

Dr. Connors looked slightly taken aback but nodded. "I doubt _you_ need any help with schooling, but I'll do what I can."

"Uhm, so... so lizards," the man tensed for a second, but Mike continued. "Where would... I mean - how exactly would one track a lizard?"

"I'm not quite sure I follow," the Doc replied, frowning. "As in to hunt one?"

"Kind of. Like - how would a predator track a lizard?"

"Impossible," the man said. "Why do you ask?"

"Just school stuff," Mike said, deciding he'd rather wrap this up, because Dr. Connors didn't seem very inviting - maybe he was coming down with something. Dr. Connors nodded and Mike coughed as it became awkward. "Uh, thanks though, Doc - I'll just research more." He gave a weak smile to the man and started to walk out of the office.

"Oh, Mike?" Mike looked back. "There has been... rumour... of a new type of lizard. Big, scary... and dangerous when threatened."

Mike swallowed and nodded, hastily leaving the office. The door swung shut and when he looked back, the blinds had been turned. A small sound alerted his attention as he was leaving, and he looked around a corner to see the mouse they had regrown a limb on - he reeled back in horror as it was some sort of horrific melding of mouse and lizard - it was eating it's cage mate and there was glass and blood on the floor.

Mike squeaked and fled.

* * *

"Seriously - do you not have school?" Harvey asked, as Mike burst into his office. "Or at least the work you should be doing for it? And did you steal one of my records?"

Mike waved his questions away. "I think Dr. Connors is the giant lizard."

"And whenever you leave my office, I'm down at least two books."

"Harvey! This is serious!"

Harvey leant slightly to switch off the intercom, even though Mike chose the time when he knew Donna would be getting herself some coffee. "It's always serious with you, Mike. Remember that time you told me you thought Trevor's dad was the Green Goblin? Or when you thought Jenny's dad was... what was it again? Quentin something?"

"Quentin Beck." Mike reminded him. "And okay, I screwed up on both counts but I'm _really _sure this time!"

"And your proof is?" Harvey asked, still exuding a calm and collected manner.

"I went to see him today, remember? And that mouse we regrew the limb for - it was like this crazy, half-lizard thing! And he was acting really weird as well."

"The mouse?"

"No! Doc Connors!"

"So your proof is that the serum didn't quite work and he's upset about it?" Harvey had his head tilted. "That theory's not gonna fly, kid."

"But I _know_ it's him! Can we, like - can't you go talk to him? Maybe you can convince him not to... I don't know, destroy Manhattan or something!"

"Even if Curt _is_ the lizard monster - which he's not... How would you expect that conversation to go? 'Hi, Curt, I hope this isn't a bad time, but do you sometimes feel like turning into a large lizard and killing everyone?' If he _was _the monster, I'd be eaten in a second."

"But..." Mike scrubbed at his head in frustration. "It's him, Harvey."

"Have you not learnt anything in this mentorship?" Harvey asked, rolling his eyes as Mike looked confused. "Evidence, Mike. Where's your evidence? Jury doesn't convict on gut feeling."

Mike blew out a breath. "Fine," he muttered. "I'll go get you some evidence."

He stormed out, and Harvey was left sitting in his office with a very bad feeling about what that dumb kid was going to try and do.

* * *

Mike shivered as he sat on the big spider web he had constructed. He'd had an idea that maybe the lizard - or Doc Connors - would come down the sewers. He'd seen other, much smaller reptiles starting to make their way down to them, and thought they could almost be going on a pilgrimage to this new, large lizard.

He'd thought he could create a trap, so that when a web got pulled, the camera flashed and he at least got a picture of the lizard - and then he could follow it and wait to see what it would look like when it... shed it's skin? He wasn't too sure what would happen, but he just wanted to catch a glimpse of it - and get a picture to prove to Harvey that it was Dr. Connors.

The thought of it being the Doc made him quite sad. He was a genuinely nice man, and Mike had thought he'd be able to go spend more time at Oscorp. And even failing that; the case that Harvey was working on that involved the Doc was interesting.

He sighed and lay on his web, playing Angry Birds on his phone to pass the time. After a while however, the web he was lying on slowly started to vibrate. He slid his phone away (thanking God that Rene was awesome and could put pockets in places that shouldn't be possible) and stood up, eyes flickering around him at the various tunnels which came to a crossroads where he was stood precariously.

He glanced over at his camera, glad that it looked primed and ready. A low, steady drumming sound echoed from one tunnel in particular and Mike stood warily, his hands out ready at his sides to make a quick getaway should the need arise. He held his breath as the sound got closer, and shadows bounced around the edges of the pipe.

However, he quickly relaxed as he saw hundreds of normal lizards scuttling towards him. Obviously this was confusing, but the fact that it wasn't _the _lizard meant that Mike didn't really care that much.

This moment of peace let him catch half a breath before he heard the camera flash and whipped around, only to be hit and sent flying at a wall. He quickly shot a web out to spring him back, but had left it too late, and only succeeded in hitting the wall slightly less harshly than he would have done had he not webbed.

He turned and found himself face to face with the giant lizard. It's tail caught in a web that kept making the camera go, it reached out blindly, trying to swipe at the device. Mike took this opportunity to leap around and web the lizard's eyes. However, he misjudged the timing and the lizard grabbed him, slamming him into a wall and leaning down menacingly, it's hot breath coming out in puffs over him.

He had made a grab for the camera, optimistically thinking he could escape and that his camera would still be intact. This dream was crushed as the lizard curled it's claws around it, also cutting through his suit and making three, large gashes down his chest. He cried out and webbed it in the eye, rolling sideways and down a pipe, rushing through water.

He realised he hadn't exactly planned this very well, as he had not only left his camera, probably killed his phone with the water and was now in the process of drowning - he hadn't checked where the lizard had gone. He grabbed hold of a ladder, yanking his arm painfully with the force of slowing down and hauled himself up, gasping and coughing now he was no longer submerged in the water. His arms felt shaky and useless, but he pulled himself up the ladder and pushed a manhole out of the way, glad to see he was in a deserted side street - it helped that it was night time as well.

He got out and spent at least five minutes coughing and shaking just lying on the floor, before finally getting to his feet and trying to get his bearings. He could have sobbed with relief when he realised he was close to Harvey's condo, and slowly made his way there, staying out of sight by painfully climbing up a building and jogging over rooftops, his chest twinging painfully whenever he had to swing from building to building.

He finally made it onto Harvey's balcony - the man had given up on locking the door, when only Mike would be able to get up the sixteen floors anyway. He felt bad fro dripping slightly over Harvey's floor, but decided that it wouldn't be too bad; the journey over had pretty much dried him off.

"Harvey?" He croaked, not sure whether the man would still be at the firm or not. "Harvey?"

He was met with silence and dug his phone out of the pocket, praying that it still worked. Thankfully, his suit was somewhat water-resistant and although it had a large crack down the screen from when he had hit the wall, it still worked. He found Harvey's number and called, frowning when it went straight to voicemail.

The sound of the door being unlocked suddenly penetrated the silence that up until then had been broken by Mike's laboured, pain-filled breathing. He swung around with a wince and closed his eyes in relief as Harvey's easily recognisable silhouette came in. He was muttering to himself as he flicked on the light, and Mike couldn't help but smile slightly as the man jumped on seeing him standing there.

"Mike? What the hell happened?" He dropped any files he was carrying on the floor and rushed over, turning as many lights on as possible on the way. Mike hissed as Harvey carefully inspected his chest and face, rotating the teen's arm to get a gasp of pain. "Lizard?"

"Lizard," Mike nodded, closing his eyes as Harvey started to dab at the claw wounds with an anti-septic wipe (and where the hell had he gotten the first aid kit from?). "Can I sleep here?" He asked, not even moving as Harvey tried to strip him of his suit. "'S late. Don't want Grammy to worry."

"She'll worry more if she doesn't know where you are," Harvey told him, wincing at the colours of the bruises that were already beginning to show.

"I'll tell her I'm at Trevor's," Mike waved it away, wincing. "Ow."

"What did you do to your arm? Or don't I want to know?" Harvey asked, putting a gentle hand on Mike's shoulder.

"Grabbed a ladder," he mumbled, shivering once free of his suit. "I was in the sewers and ended up taking a bit of a detour on the way over here."

"You were in the sewers..." Harvey repeated. "And you thought it would be a good idea to come here straight after?"

"Nowhere else to go," Mike told him, sitting up and hissing as Harvey finished cleaning the claw marks and started to put bandages on them. "You're the only person who knows. And I can't afford the hospital."

"You're lucky these wounds were shallow," Harvey told him, leaning back and breathing out, ruffling his own hair. "And you said it was the big lizard that did this?" Mike nodded. "Jesus."

Mike watched him in silence for a moment before looking down at his lap. "Sorry. I don't mean to worry you. You're just the only person I can really come to, y'know?"

Harvey sighed. "I know. Here," he stood up and threw some pills at the teen. "Take these painkillers." He disappeared and Mike took the opportunity to quickly swallow the pills and let his eyes close from his position on the chair Harvey had pushed him onto.

"Hey, kid." He groaned and opened his eyes again. Harvey was stood in front of him with a towel and some spare clothes. "Go take a shower. Wash off the sewage water."

Mike struggled to his feet, thankful that the pain in his arm had dulled, and took the proffered clothing and towel. Harvey then approached him with some Saran wrap. "What are you doing?" Mike asked, although he was now too tired to care.

"Wrapping up the bandage so that it doesn't get wet, genius," Harvey told him, carefully wrapping it around his chest. Mike nodding in slow understanding and limped slightly to the bathroom. When the door shut and the shower started, Harvey breathed out and sat down, rubbing at his face.

He had no idea what he was doing. How does one look after a flunking, genius teenager turned superhero? He was worried whenever he saw anything online or on the news regarding Spiderman - and he saw _a lot _of it; not because he kept track, of course not; but because the office seemed obsessed with their latest vigilante and Donna loved sending him clips on YouTube or online articles.

And he had promised Mike he wouldn't tell SHIELD where or who he was. The word had spread that Rene had made Spiderman's suit and suddenly he had been bombarded with the Official Secrets Act and questioned - he hadn't said anything, however, and Harvey felt an enormous amount of pressure on himself.

Did he tell them what he knew? It would be better for Mike in the long run. SHIELD would help him - if nothing else they could get him tutored by someone who knew what they were up against. Did Xavier still have that school?

But that would mean that Mike would be sent away. To somewhere that maybe not even his Grandmother would know. He felt a small curdle in his stomach at the thought.

If Mike _had _to be a superhero, trying to cheat death every day, then Harvey much preferred it when he could say to the kid's face that he was an idiot.

* * *

Harvey seemed to constantly forget about Mike's super-healing, as the day after, when he arrived just before school (he often hitched a lift from Ray because the driver went that direction to go home anyway), Harvey immediately stood up, examining his face.

"How's your chest?" He heard Donna cough to hide a laugh and shook his head. "Not what you think, Donna. Idiot managed to get himself mauled by the sidewalk yesterday," he lied smoothly.

"I fell off my bike," Mike translated for the assistant's benefit. "And it's fine. I took the bandages off this morning. It's better - healing."

Harvey nodded, an eyebrow raised. "Your arm?" Mike raised it and windmilled slightly. "Alright, I get it," he said. "Stop that before you do something to it again."

"Yes, Mom," Mike said. "I'm going - can I help with the McCarthy settlement when I come back?"

"If you don't do anything stupid between the hours of 9am and 3pm, I'll think about it."

"Deal," Mike agreed, walking out the door and running to grab a swiftly-closing elevator.

"Dumb kid," Harvey said, without an ounce of bite. Donna smirked to herself and turned to her computer. "Oh and, Donna?" She looked over to him. "Stop sending me videos of Spiderkid."

"Man, Harvey," she reminded him. "He's definitely Spiderman."

He bit back a gag. He had a feeling Donna (and quite a few of the women; and some of the men) was developing a crush on 'Spiderman' - his daring aerial acrobatics and tight spandex had been the focus of several conversation he had overheard.

"I'm pretty sure it's a kid," Harvey said, not wanting to think about the tight spandex - mainly because he had seen it covered in blood and gashes too often. "He's probably the same age as Mike. And I doubt you'd think about _him_ like that."

"Well that's different - that's _Mike_," Donna rolled her eyes. "Spiderman is a different story. And why are you so sure he's a kid?"

Harvey shrugged. "I sometimes get emails from Tony - he keeps me up to date on things." That was a lie; yes Tony emailed him, but it was more about suits, good places to wine and dine someone, and dates of high-stake poker games. "And I have work to do," he added. "So stop talking about Spiderkid."

* * *

Mike sighed as he moved through the dreary corridors of his school. What used to relieve him straight after Gramps had died was the fact that everyone carefully avoided him; unsure of how to deal with death. Now though, he was still avoided and he badly wanted distracting. He kept thinking about the lizard, and if it _was _Doc Connors, and how he would be able to track it later on.

"Yo, Mike!" He looked up, thankful that _someone _was acknowledging his existence. He gave a wan smile to Trevor as both he and Jenny approached him. "What are you doing, avoiding us?"

"Busy," Mike replied. "You do realise we have finals coming up soon?"

"Like you need to study," Trevor rolled his eyes.

"I have Pearson Hardman as well," Mike argued. "I can't just focus on one thing."

"Maybe you should focus on us a bit more," Trevor snapped, before immediately softening as he saw Mike's reaction. "Sorry, man."

"Forget about it," Mike shook his head. "I'm sorry - I know I haven't been spending much time with you guys, but I - "

"It's understandable, Mike," Jenny soothed. "We just wish you'd come to us more."

"I will," Mike promised, before a loud roar reverberated around the school walls and corridors. They all whipped around to see a large lizard burst through the door (and half the wall) of a bathroom. People started screaming and running, and Mike found himself trapped in the surge of students trying to get away. He saw the lizard look at him, it's eyes narrowing as it set it's target.

It knew.

It couldn't know.

But it did.

Shit - it must have kept his camera; one that had his name on it should he lose it (Damn it, Grammy!)

"Mike!" He heard Jenny yell as he pushed back and managed to fall into an empty classroom. The door swung shut and he stood in a corner, ripping his clothes off to show the Spiderman suit, something he had gotten into a habit of wearing all the time. He pulled his mask on quickly and left his bag in the room - someone would find it and hopefully keep it safe - it had some of his borrowed law books from Harvey inside.

He couldn't hear many students anymore and a glance into the hallway told him that they'd cleared out, leaving it just him and the lizard.

He opened the door and dived to one side, just as the lizard made a grab for him.

"I know it's you, Mike!" The lizard roared, causing him to stare at it with wide eyes. He didn't think it could talk or even really process much thought. Knowing now that it was definitely Dr. Connors, and that he could think and speak even like this - it just made it harder.

"Doc, you need to stop this!" He yelled, jumping out of the way as the lizard grabbed hold of a locker with it's tail and threw it towards him. The lizard gave an almost chuckle at his words.

"This is evolutionary," it said, whipping it's claws through the air. "I'm stronger, faster - I have full, working limbs!" It roared and swiped at him again, this time hitting and throwing him at a wall.

* * *

"Harvey, have you seen the latest news?" Donna asked, rushing into his office.

"I'm busy, Donna," he told her, looking through files. If Mike really wanted in on this settlement, Harvey wanted to have a good idea what they were up against first.

"It's Mike's school," she told him, causing him to stop and slowly look up. "That lizard is there - all the kids have been evacuated - apparently Spiderman's there fighting it. They're waiting for the cops to go save the day. Even though that perfectly sculpted as - "

"Okay, Donna," he stopped her, desperately wanting to tell her who it was so she would stop thinking about him like that. He quickly looked up the breaking news online and saw footage of the lizard from a window. Spiderman was thrown into the window but thankfully not through it.

"I'm going down there," he decided.

"And you're going to do what?" She demanded. "Go do Spiderman's job?"

"You think Mike's grandmother can get down there?" He asked her. "I just need to check..." _If he's okay_. "That he doesn't have any of my books or records there."

"Sure, Harvey," she rolled her eyes.

* * *

Mike groaned as he pushed himself up. He had thought he had managed to completely web up the lizard, but instead, it managed to break free, and before he knew it, it had gone. He had managed to track it to a bathroom, and the broken pipes and sinks made it clear where it had come up from. He wrinkled his nose and was about to climb down when his phone started to ring.

"Hello?"

_"Kid, where are you? What's happening?"_

"Harvey?"

_"No, it's the President. What's going on?"_

"The lizard showed up at school, he knows it's me, Harvey," there was silence down the other end of the phone for a few moments. "It's definitely Dr. Connors. I'm going after him - he's gone down the sewers."

_"Mike, think about this - you have no idea what to do; are you seriously going to try to _kill_ him?"_

"No!" Mike said, sounding offended. "I'm going to find his serum - if I have that, then I'll be able to make a cure at his lab, right?"

_"And you think you know how to do that?"_

"Harvey, I'm the one that _made _the serum! I'm going now, alright - I'll... I'll see you later."

_"Mike - "_

"Oh, and my bag's in school; could you get it? It has some of your books in it." He hung up and hopped down the sewer.

* * *

"Mike!" Harvey yelled, even as the phone cut off. He growled and shoved it back in his pocket, glancing over the confused, scared students that were peering at the school, wondering what was happening, and when they could go back in. He thankfully noticed a familiar face and grabbed hold of their shoulder.

"Hey, kid."

"Get off me, man!" The boy pushed him off, scowling. "I don't even know you!"

"Trevor, am I right?" He asked. The boy nodded. "Harvey Specter. Maybe Mike's mentioned me."

"Um, yeah, only like all the time," Trevor rolled his eyes. "You'd think you were his dad. Why are you here?"

"Mike left his bag in there," Harvey told him, quickly coming up with a plan. "He got out and came to the firm. Idiot forgot his bag. Can you collect it?"

Trevor bit his lip. "I guess."

"Thanks, kid."

He quickly left the school and hailed a cab, asking for it to take him to Oscorp. As smart as Mike was, he wouldn't know how to work the sophisticated machinery inside. Oscorp had been Pearson Hardman's client for a long time; Harvey had seen the machines in action and had even been inducted in a few by Curt. He would be able to do something while Mike was trying to find the lizard.

He didn't like feeling helpless.

* * *

Mike shivered as he looked around the underground chamber in the sewers. It was clear the Doc had been planning... _something _for a while; there were vials, actual lab equipment and more set up around the chamber. It was completely silent which gave a small sense of foreboding but Mike paid it no heed. Whatever the Doc was planning, he wasn't coming back here. There was a computer that was on, a paused video on-screen. The board behind it had blueprints of some kind of machine, and pictures - it looked familiar; he thought he had seen it at Oscorp.

He pressed play on the video and watched in silence, his eyes slowly widening. The Doc was human, but was babbling and ranting - raving about the qualities of the serum, how it should be offered to the world. A picture of the machine on the board then came on-screen, complete with notes and a diagram. Mike watched in horror - the Doc was planning on changing everyone - using the device to disperse the serum in a gaseous form across the entirety of New York.

If he could get to Oscorp first, he could make the antidote before Curt put it in the dispersing device - he was sure he could!

With this thought in mind he quickly got out of the sewers, following the street before leaping and shooting a web to attach himself to a building and started to swing as fast as he could. People down below rarely stopped to stare as he was used to - instead they ran the opposite direction. He quirked an eyebrow and went even faster - faster than the police helicopter overhead.

He knew he wasn't exactly friends with the police, but he really hoped that 'copter wasn't for him. Praying that he got to Oscorp before Curt, he attached himself to a line of cranes and went on a straight to the laboratory.

* * *

Harvey kept sending nervous glances to the doors. He didn't know _what _was going on, or where Mike was, or where the lizard was - but Mike needed the serum altering, and Harvey was sure he could do it. It was a machine that Curt's interns used, one he had seen being used. He pulled up the file of the serum Mike had engineered and sighed in relief as it literally just said 'make antidote'.

"Well that was ridiculously easy," Harvey muttered to himself, pulling out his phone to call Mike, hoping the kid answered - or at the very least had it on silent in case he was in range of the lizard. Thankfully, he answered. Out of breath. "You okay?"

_"I'm on my way to Oscorp - it's hard work."_

"I'm already here - the antidote should be made soon," Harvey said, allowing himself to sound proud because he was a closer and he fixed things and he could even fix problems before Spiderkid.

_"What? Harvey you need to get out of there! Dr. Connors is on his way!"_

"What does he want here?" Harvey glanced around. Apart from the serum, there wasn't anything that caught his attention.

_"He's going to use a dispersal device - it's on the roof; it's going to infect the whole of New York if we don't change it!" _

Harvey was worried that he felt quite happy when Mike said 'we'. He had always wanted to be a superhero - when he was younger, he had told his dad he wanted to move to Gotham to help Batman. "Okay - how far away are you?"

_"I'm literally nearly - "_

Harvey heard a crash and spun around, only to be faced with Spiderman stuck to the window, having swung right into it.

_"Ow...__"_

"Idiot." Harvey ended the call and opened the window, helping Mike inside and taking his phone, putting it next to his own in his pocket. At least then he knew it would be safe.

"We need to hurry," Mike told him, running over to the machine that Harvey had been running the serum through. It beeped and he grinned, pulling it out and heading for the door. "I'm going to the roof," Mike told him. "You have to stay here."

"The hell I do," Harvey said, stubborn as ever. "I helped with this, I'm going to see it to the end."

"Harvey he could kill you!" Mike told him, eyes flickering to the door, quickly swapping the weight on the balls of his feet. It was obvious he wanted to get out of there fast and get to the roof.

"You might need my help, Mike - I'm not leaving you to go up there alone." He quickly coughed. "Besides, I'm not going to be the one to tell your Gram that you were eaten by a big lizard."

"Whatever - okay, c'mon then; but be careful." He started running, causing Harvey to give a start before hurrying after him. His suit was all over the place and his hair was a mess, but he was quite proud he could mostly keep up with Spiderkid - sure the kid was juiced up on whatever spider venom was going through him, but Harvey had gone on a morning jog every day for the past 5 years.

They got to the roof and Harvey almost rolled his eyes. Of course it would be raining right now. "Stay there!" Mike shouted as he webbed up to the machine, glancing at it. Curt hadn't gotten there yet, and Mike would have to wait so he could swap the serum over.

"We'll have to - " He started shouting down to Harvey, before getting thrown off the tower housing the machine,

"Mike!" Harvey shouted, about to run over before realising the kid was already up and running, getting back to the top to attack the large lizard. Why did Harvey think this was a good idea? He was completely powerless here! He should be at the firm, gasping with the rest of them as they watched it on the news.

The news.

A helicopter was circling nearby - he couldn't be seen; they'd connect the dots easily enough. He darted back into the stairwell, just looking out through a crack in the door. He watched with his hands clenching as Mike was thrown around as he and the lizard battled to put their own serums into the device.

He let his breath out as the lizard disappeared down the side of the building and Mike put the small vial into the device. Another 2 seconds after this, the device shot the antidote into the air, and Harvey stared at the blue particles floating down from it.

He opened the door to quickly grab Mike and leave, but the kid suddenly fell out of sight, having fallen off the platform in sheer exhaustion.

"Mike!"

He ran, not caring that he could be seen by the helicopter. If needs be, he could always contact Tony and beg - the billionaire would easily be able to access the footage and delete it all.

"Mike?" He couldn't see the kid anywhere. The rooftop seemed to have adopted a quiet calm; it was as if an atomic bomb had gone off. "Mike?" He peered over the side of the roof and paled - partly because he didn't realise how high up they were, and also because Mike was clinging to the side of the building with one hand, sweating (his mask had ripped off during the fight and was lying abandoned near the tower).

"It's okay, kid, I'll get you up," Harvey promised him, reaching down a hand. Mike went to grab it with his limp hand and missed, his eyes showing just how scared he was. "It's fine, Mike - don't worry," Harvey tried to soothe, his own heart pounding. "You can do this."

Mike fixed his gaze just over Harvey's shoulder and brought his arm up, shooting the webs that Harvey rarely got to see up close past him, attaching to a wall on the other side of the roof. Suddenly, Mike was a blur, and a crumpled pile on the roof. Harvey tore over, kneeling by him.

"You okay?"

Mike nodded, breathing sharply. "Fast healing, remember? I'll be fine in a couple of days, promise."

Harvey nodded, before looking around. "Where's Curt?"

"He pulled me off the building before he fell," Mike told him, cradling his ribs. "He's probably back to his normal self now. The cops can handle it. They've been getting a lot of anonymous tips from someone about Dr. Connors."

Harvey nodded, prodding and poking softly to see what was injured.

"'M sorry," Mike mumbled, closing his eyes.

"Eyes on me, kiddo." Harvey tapped his cheek gently.

"Sorry," Mike said again. He tried to sit slightly more upright, and in the light Harvey winced at the cuts and bruises all over Mike's face. He wondered what Edith would say about all of this. "I borrowed one of your records."

What was almost hysterical laughter bubbled from Harvey's mouth. "Don't worry about it. Let's just get you up and out of here, okay? I might not even take you straight to the hospital if you help me out here."

"No, Harvey - I'm sorry I took it," Mike implored.

"It's okay, Mike," Harvey promised him.

"I wanted to listen to it - Gramps talked about it before; I just wanted to listen to it." Before Harvey knew it, tears were slowly dripping down Mike's face. He wasn't sure what exactly to do, and slowly pulled Mike to his feet, allowing the teen to fall into his arms, head buried in Harvey's collar bone.

"It's okay," Harvey mumbled, rubbing his back before leading Mike out - they needed to get out of there fast, before the cops got there.

"I miss him," Mike whispered. "I don't know if..."

"If what, kid?" Harvey pushed quietly, helping him down the stairs.

"If he'd be proud," Mike sniffed. "Of what I'm doing."

"Of course he would," Harvey told him. "You're a hero." The words were out of his mouth before he could take them back.

Mike blinked up at him, a small, shy smile on his face. "You're _my_ hero," he told Harvey earnestly.

Harvey wasn't sure how to respond. He was saved by the kid passing out and having to concentrate on dragging his ass down 7 flights of stairs.

* * *

"Harvey I'm bored!"

Harvey sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. After everything that had happened, Harvey had had way too much excitement for a lifetime - and he had kind of assumed Mike had too. But he hadn't. The teen just needed more adrenaline after a while - and after a stern telling-off and a promise that he wouldn't do anything stupid for 'a while'.

The 'while' was definitely torture thought. For both of them.

Mike was either cooped up in Harvey's office or at home, having promised he wouldn't be Spiderman for a while - crime was unusually low at the moment, and there were whispers of SHIELD taking care of things whenever Spiderman didn't show.

After they had gotten out of Oscorp (and stopping in some toilets to do some quick clothes-swapping so Mike was wearing Harvey's suit jacket with his Spiderman suit bundled in his arms. Fortunately, the lab kept a steady supply of scrubs, so he was wearing a pair that was slightly too big, and also had no shoes on. Harvey quickly found them a cab however, and soon they got to Harvey's condo.

He made a call to Edith and had told her that Mike was fine and had come to the firm, but because of the time, he was just going to stay at Harvey's that night, if that was okay with her. He then turned his now quite experienced nursing talents to Mike and when he went to bed, you could never tell he had been in a fight with a gigantic lizard.

Harvey had been called to Jessica's office to be told that Curt Connors had been arrested and they were no longer his lawyers. He didn't even try to argue the case - he had liked Curt, but the man had knowingly tried to hurt Mike - tried to turn the entirety of the New York population into monsters like him.

And Harvey would rather he rot in prison.

"Harvey!" Mike whined again, lying on the couch, covered in books and papers that had thousands of random doodles and scribbles on them.

"I heard you," Harvey grumbled. "You're bored. Tough." Mike sighed and rolled slightly so he was in an even more awkward position. "That can't be comfortable."

"I'm bored."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Tough."

"C'mon, Harvey!" Mike sat up, glancing outside at Donna before sneakily turning off the intercom. "Let me out! I've been grounded for a week now; I need to get out! You only said I needed to stay inside until Rene finished with my suit. And he finished two days ago!"

Harvey glanced up at him, well aware that he now had a new, better suit than before. He had been practically breathing down Rene's neck, telling him to add everything to protect Mike more. How much good it would do however, he didn't really know.

"Let me out," Mike said. "Please?"

Harvey pointed his pen at him. "You do this - you promise me that you're more careful," he said seriously. "You don't take stupid risks, and you don't fight mutant lizards. Got it?"

"Got it!" Mike grinned, offering a fist bump. Harvey raised an eyebrow at him, and Mike put his fist down, feigning extreme disappointment. "You're the best."

"I know," Harvey acknowledged, looking back at his work. "I've also been told I'm a 'hero'. Someone in particular's."

Mike flushed a deep red and quickly grabbed his bag. "What I meant was, one day I wanna go to law school, and uh - you're... People talk, and y'know... you say you're the best closer, and uh..."

"You know where the door is," Harvey told him.

"See you later, Harvey," Mike grinned, leaving and throwing a very cheery goodbye to Donna, who looked back at Harvey once the teen was gone, her expression very clearly saying _Why's he so happy?_

Harvey shrugged but couldn't conceal his smile.

"Dumb kid."

* * *

**A/N Done! It's actually done! Wow. So again - I'm sorry for the lateness. I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any ideas on what my next Suits fic should be, please don't hesitate to ask :D Love you all :D**


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